Biden to visit Saudi Arabia and meet other Gulf leaders
The US has confirmed that President Biden will visit Saudi Arabia in July, meeting with all the Gulf heads of state and also, significantly, with the Saudi crown prince. We are not expecting any major concessions from Saudi Arabia on human rights or oil supplies, although there may be some gestures ahead of the visit. He will also be speaking remotely with the UAE's president a few days before, when he is in Israel and holds a "virtual summit" with the UAE and India.
There will be lots going on in the visit, including bilateral meetings with all the Gulf leaders, but the meeting with MBS, who is expected to lead the Kingdom for the next half-century, is clearly the critical element. Although MBS was not mentioned in the White House’s formal announcement, an administration official confirmed to the press that he will be on the agenda and the Saudi embassy also stated this. It comes despite Biden's pledging to make him a pariah over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. In response to press questions about human rights, the White House’s response was that the best way to get results is through conversations behind closed doors, citing the Yemen ceasefire as “a clear example of where our engagement with the Saudis delivered results” and he credited MBS with playing a critical role in securing its recent extension. By meeting him ahead of a regional summit on critical issues, hosted by Saudi Arabia due to its current presidency of the GCC, the administration is seeking to sidestep some of the awkwardness over engagement with MBS which might have come in a purely bilateral context.
The visit comes after a low point in relations with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE in early March when the UAE abstained on a Security Council vote condemning Russia and OPEC+ failed to boost its taper.
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