US authorities are preparing for the first official meeting of Joe Bayden with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad Salman Al Saud. The White House sent a special coordinator in the Middle East Brett McGgerk to prepare an official visit, which will take place on July 15, writes Axios.
As the publication notes, the White House deliberately does not advertise the meeting as bilateral negotiations, insisting that this is “only part of Bayden’s large visit to the Middle East.” The president will start a working trip in Israel, after which he will go to Jeddu for a summit with the leaders of the Arab countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and Iraq, the newspaper writes. It is expected that the parties will also discuss oil production, many of the countries are current members of the OPEC+agreement, some of which considered the possibility of exclusion of Russia from the agreement.
The US administration has repeatedly announced the intention to reduce Russia’s oil revenues. American officials directly stated in June that Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia was connected with oil – thus, the United States wanted to solve two problems at once: a sharp increase in fuel prices in the domestic market and the reduction of Moscow oil revenues against the backdrop of record oil prices. According to Axios, as part of a trip to the Biden summit, he will meet with a crown prince to “repair relationships, discuss the increase in oil production and try to normalize the relationship between Er-raid and Tel Aviv.” In June, details appeared about the US intention to try to convince the Arab states (then it was only about the UAE and Saudi Arabia) to increase oil production.