Biden meeting with Saudi Crown Prince postponed, no Middle East trip until July

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau

WASHINGTON , 7^th June. According to the Biden administration a meeting between President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is being postponed and expected to take place in July.

White House said that Biden and the crown prince were planning to meet at the end of June as part of a broader summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which Saudi Arabia presides over.

Sr. officials said that Biden would travel to Germany and Spain for the G7 and NATO summits respectively later in June.

White House officials said that two separate trips one to Europe and one to the Middle East would allow for more time to plan and set a schedule and agenda.

An in-person meeting with Prince Mohammed would mark the first time Biden directly engages with the de facto Saudi leader since taking office. Biden has so far opted instead to speak directly with King Salman, the crown prince’s father.

The meeting would be the culmination of months of diplomatic work by the Biden administration to repair the US-Saudi relationship and would represent a turnabout for Biden, who once suggested that Saudi Arabia be made a “pariah” for its human rights record.

Biden’s plans to visit Saudi Arabia came under swift scrutiny given the country’s human rights record and the president’s own past comments about the oil-rich country.

On the campaign trail, Biden promised to treat as a “pariah” following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The CIA concluded in 2018 that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, had ordered Khashoggi’s killing. The crown prince has denied any personal involvement in his death.

A group of relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks wrote to Biden this week saying that if he travels to the kingdom, he must raise issues of “accountability” over alleged ties between some of the 9/11 hijackers and Saudi officials.

Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. economic and military ally, has traditionally been one of the first foreign stops a president makes in the Middle East.

Biden administration has found it difficult to avoid cooperating with Saudi Arabia given its major role in many of the top foreign policy issues confronting the Biden administration, including Israel-Palestinian tensions and the Iran nuclear deal.

Biden has also been looking for ways to help drive down the price of oil and gas as his administration faces ongoing pressure to do more to lower the price of fuel heading into the midterm elections.

White House didn’t publicly confirm those travel plans.

Biden administration had informed other countries that the visits were happening in late June, and that the White House and State Department were preparing for the visits.

President was asked by a reporter on Friday morning about reports of trip to Saudi Arabia, he said a stop was possible but that was “not sure whether I’m going.”

“I have been engaged in trying to work with how we can bring more stability and peace to the Middle East. And there is a possibility that I would be going to meet with both the Israelis and some Arab countries at the time, including, I expect, would be Saudi Arabia, would be included in that if I did go,” Biden said.

“But I have no direct plans at the moment. We’re looking at it.”

Biden has been highly critical of the Saudis’ record on human rights, its war in Yemen and the role its government played in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden on Friday defended the prospect of meeting with Prince Mohammed.

“I have been engaged in trying to work with how we can bring more stability and peace in the Middle East and there is a possibility that I would be going to meet with both the Israelis and some Arab countries at the time — including, I expect, would be Saudi Arabia, would be included in that if I did go,” the President said.

Two key deals were reached on Thursday — OPEC announcing it would increase oil production and the extension of a truce in Yemen — that laid the groundwork for the meeting between Biden and the crown prince.

But even ahead of a formal announcement about the meeting, it has drawn scrutiny, including from Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz.

“President Biden’s decision to meet MBS is horribly upsetting to me and supporters of freedom and justice everywhere. President Biden, if he meets MBS, will have lost his moral compass and greatly heightened my grief,” she said in a statement to CNN, referring to the crown prince by his initials.

9/11 Families United, a group representing family members of those who died in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, also urged Biden in a letter Thursday to raise Saudi Arabia’s role in the attack should he meet with Prince Mohammed or other leaders in Riyadh.

On Saturday, the group said it was “pleased” Biden’s expected meeting was pushed back.

“We are pleased that President Biden is taking a step back and evaluating his priorities for this Saudi trip,” Terry Strada, the group’s national chair, said in a statement. “The September 11th community looks forward to his engagement with us.”

U.S. officials told Israel on Friday evening that the visit will be postponed to July because of scheduling issues and the need for more time to work on preparations for the trip, the two Israeli officials said.

U.S. official also confirmed the visit was postponed to July but stressed the reason was the president’s tight schedule with his trip to Europe.

The official said the postponement was not connected to the domestic political situation in Israel.

The trip was expected to include a summit in Saudi Arabia with the leaders of nine Arab countries.

Biden also planned to visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

POTUS was expected to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the U.S. intelligence community said is responsible for the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi — an allegation Saudi officials rejected.

The president said he had “no direct plans” to go to the region at the moment, but added that there is a “possibility” he will go and meet Israeli and Arab leaders, including those in Saudi Arabia.

Biden said there is a “possibility” he could visit Saudi Arabia on a trip to the Middle East, but he is not “going to change” his “views on human rights” in the kingdom.

OPEC, Russia and allied producers agreed to boost production by roughly 650,000 barrels per day in July and August, rather than 432,000 envisioned in the ongoing restoration of pandemic-related output cuts.

OPEC and its allied producers agreed Thursday to boost oil production by over 200,000 more barrels a day than expected in July and August.

The move may help ease surging oil prices and rising inflation over the high-demand summer months.

“We are working on a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia for a GCC+3 Summit,” a senior administration official told NBC News. “We are working to confirm dates. When we have something to announce, we will.”

A foreign diplomat and two U.S. officials said the Saudi stop will no longer take place in late June, and two U.S. officials said the trip to Israel was also being pushed back. Both visits had been expected to be tacked on to Biden’s previously scheduled trip to Germany and Spain this month.