Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a speech at Helsinki City Hall June 2, 2023 in Helsinki, Finland.
WASHINGTON CNN –
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, a US official told CNN. This is the latest step in rapprochement between the US government and the de facto leader of a key US ally.
Relations between the two countries have been strained in recent years following the torture and killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, for which a US intelligence report blamed the crown prince. But amid volatile oil prices over the past year — Saudi Arabia announced this week that it will cut oil production from July to prop up crude prices — the Biden administration has sought to reconnect with the kingdom.
Blinken will “meet with Saudi officials to discuss US-Saudi Arabia strategic cooperation on regional and global issues, as well as a range of bilateral issues, including economic and security cooperation,” and also attend US-Gulf Cooperation meetings Council and the Global Coalition to Defeat participate ISIS, the State Department’s trip summary said.
Speaking to pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC on Monday, Blinken also said normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia will be a topic of conversation during his trip.
The production cut announced by Saudi Arabia over the weekend was the biggest in years and will push production down to 9 million barrels a day. This comes after a meeting in Vienna of the alliance known as OPEC+, which includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other smaller producers.
Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel was asked to comment on the decision to cut production ahead of Blinken’s visit, noting that gasoline prices in the US have generally fallen from levels a year ago.
“We believe supply should meet demand, and we will continue to work with all producers and consumers to ensure energy markets support economic growth and lower prices for American families,” Patel said at a briefing. “That’s what we’re concentrating on.”
During the campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia “the pariah it is” on the world stage and “make the price pay” for Khashoggi’s murder. But he broke that promise when he visited the country last year and punched the crown prince, providing a photo opportunity for the Saudi government and outraging human rights groups.
At the time, the President defended his actions by saying that his trip to Saudi Arabia was vital to US security.
“As President, my job is to keep our country strong and safe. We must confront Russia’s aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outperform China, and work for greater stability in a vital region of the world,” Biden wrote in an editorial for the Washington Post.
“To achieve these things, we must work directly with countries that can influence these outcomes,” he wrote.
Months after Biden’s visit, the US ruled that bin Salman should be granted immunity in a case brought against him by Khashoggi’s fiancé.