President Joe Biden said on Friday that when he visits Saudi Arabia next month, he will not meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He made the remark in response to a question about whether he would denounce the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden stated that he will deal with the Saudis over Khashoggi’s case “the same way I’ve been handling with it.”
He then stated that he will not be meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
‘I’m not going to meet with MBS. I’m going to an international meeting and he’s going to be part of it,’ Biden told reporters at the White House before he left to spend the weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
In mid-July, Biden will be in Jeddah for a meeting of the GCC plus 3 summit to discuss oil production. He’ll meet with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud when he’s there.
Salman’s entourage, which includes his son and heir MBS, will merely be present at the meeting, according to the White House. MBS will also attend the GCC plus 3 conference, which Saudi Arabia is hosting.
The kingdom, on the other hand, stated that MBS and Biden will meet unilaterally.
‘The crown prince and President Biden will hold official talks that will focus on various areas of bilateral cooperation and joint efforts to address regional and global challenges,’ the country said in a statement when Biden’s trip was announced.
But White House deputy spokesman John Kirby said Biden will meet with the King and the meeting with MBS will be a part of that.
‘He’s going to meet bilaterally with King Salman and King Salman’s team and the crown prince is part of that team. I suspect he’ll see the crown prince in the context of the meetings. He’s grateful for the king’s willingness to host the GCC plus three. He’s looking forward to, again, a wide scope of discussions,’ Kirby said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe the day the Saudi trip was announced.
But the White House has been dodging questions on whether President Biden will bring up Khashoggi’s murder when he sees MSB next month.
‘We’re not overlooking any content that happened before when the president took office,’ White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week when asked about it.
‘It’s important to also emphasize that while we collaborate relationships, we are not looking to rupture relationships.’
She said human rights would be part of the conversation.
‘Human rights issues, human rights conversation is something that the president brings up with many leaders and plans to do so,’ she noted.
Earlier this month, the White House said Biden still felt MBS was a ‘pariah’ for what U.S. intelligence says was his role in the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in Turkey in 2018.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden referred to MBS as a ‘pariah’ in the aftermath of Khashoggi’s killing.
The Washington Post journalist was murdered in Turkey in 2018. The CIA has concluded with ‘high confidence’ that bin Salman ordered the assassination.
Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul tainted the crown prince’s image as a reformist.
Human rights advocates also have encouraged Biden not to make the trip without bringing up Saudi’s treatment of its citizens.
And Khashoggi’s fiancee accused Biden of ‘putting oil over principles’ in meeting with MBS.
‘Mr. President, I beseech you not to lose your moral authority or overlook this heinous crime,’ Hatice Cengiz said in a videotaped message Wednesday. ‘You must uphold your role to bring all the perpetrators of this brutal crime to justice.’
On July 15 and 16, Biden will travel to the kingdom to rebuild ties between the United States and the world’s second-largest holder of petroleum reserves.
The White House confirmed on Tuesday that his trip will include trips in Israel and the West Bank.
The trip takes place as gas prices in the United States continue to rise, a crucial home issue that Biden aims to address ahead of the midterm elections in November.
Cost the first time in American history, the national average for a gallon of gas surpassed $5 over the weekend.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producer, and as a key member of OPEC, it has a significant influence over global oil prices.
The trip was announced by the White House after Saudi Arabia pushed OPEC+ to increase oil output by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August.
The White House issued a statement praising the monarchy at the time, which was considered as a first step toward thawing the frigid relations between Washington and Riyadh.
Biden also praised Saudi Arabia for agreeing to extend a cease-fire mediated by the United Nations in its seven-year conflict with Yemen. The decision was described as “courageous” by the president.