This marks the president’s departure from his campaign promise of isolating Riyadh over the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi
The Riyadh trip, first reported by the Washington Post and New York Times, suggests Biden has prioritized his need to bring oil prices down and thereby punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, over his stand on human rights. The visit will be added on to an already planned trip to Israel, Germany and Spain.
“If he determines that it’s in the interests of the United States to engage with a foreign leader and that such an engagement can deliver results, then he’ll do so,” a senior White House official said. “In the case of, which has been a strategic partner of the United States for nearly 80 years, there’s no question that important interests are interwoven with Saudi Arabia.
Yemeni civilian casualties from the Saudi-led coalition’s bombing campaign soured the bilateral relationship in recent years and Khashoggi’s murder in 2018 significantly increased the damage. The Trump administration tried to gloss over the problems, but anti-Saudi sentiment became bipartisan in Congress, and on coming to office in 2021, Biden ordered a rethink of ties to Riyadh.
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