Joe Biden, the President of the United States, stated on Friday that his views on human rights have not changed, despite the fact that his administration has praised Saudi Arabia for increasing its oil production, despite the fact that he had previously pledged to make Saudi Arabia a pariah nation due to the abuses it commits.
Biden said that he was unsure as to whether he would be heading to Saudi Arabia, and he does not currently have any concrete arrangements to go to the country.
He admitted that he plans to meet with the heads of state of Israel as well as certain Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, at some time in the future.
The White House has been sounding more decisive about the trip, and these statements come at the same time.
According to a source familiar with White House planning, President Biden has decided to travel to both Israel and Saudi Arabia. He will most likely add these stops to an already planned trip to Europe for a pair of summits this month; however, the specifics of the trip have not yet been finalised. The individual did not have permission to remark in a public forum.
To be clear, I have no intention of changing how I feel about human rights “When questioned about potential visit to Saudi Arabia, Biden responded by telling the reporters that he had just finished giving his comments on the May employment report.
“However, as the President of the United States, it is my responsibility to bring about peace whenever and wherever I can. To that end, I’m going to make an effort to do that.
As a contender for the White House, he vowed to punish Saudi Arabia as a pariah nation for the murder and mutilation of writer Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, who was living in the United States and was a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s repressive methods.
The authorities from the US intelligence community came to the conclusion that the crown prince most likely approved of the assassination.
Biden, who is now spending the weekend at his house on the beach in Delaware, sidestepped queries from reporters over whether or not he would meet with the prince.
To tell you the truth, we are getting well ahead of ourselves here, “Biden said when questioned about the possibility of a meeting of this kind.
The OPEC+ group, which is comprised of OPEC nations as well as Russia, made the announcement on Thursday that they would increase production by 648,000 barrels per day in the months of July and August. This will provide some modest relief for the ailing global economy, which has been negatively affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The White House has been applying pressure on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), whose de facto head is Saudi Arabia, to raise oil supplies more swiftly for many months.
The combination of this approach and an agreement by the European Union to stop the majority of its oil imports from Russia has caused prices to rise.
The inability to convert crude oil into motor fuel owing to a shortage of refining capacity has also contributed to an increase in the price of gasoline and diesel.
On Friday, President Biden referred to the decision by OPEC+ as a good, but he also said that he was uncertain as to whether or not it would be large enough to assist Americans at the pump.
On Thursday, the press secretary for the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre, lauded Saudi Arabia for its contribution to the formation of a consensus among the oil producers’ bloc.
This week, in addition to the White House praising Saudi Arabia for its role in securing an OPEC+ pledge, the president lauded the Saudis for demonstrating courageous leadership by agreeing to an extension of the cease-fire for 60 days in its war with Yemen, which has been going on for seven years now. Additionally, the extension was announced on Thursday.
