On Friday, President Joe Biden will visit Saudi Arabia to discuss energy supply, human rights, and security cooperation as part of a mission to rebuild US ties with a nation he once vowed to make a "pariah" on the international stage.
Biden will meet with other government representatives as well as Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also referred to as MBS.
Body language and speech will be extensively scrutinized during the visit.
Biden will likely shake hands with the prince, who is the de facto ruler of the kingdom, although White House aides have declined to confirm this. A summit taking place in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah on Saturday will see Biden interact with a larger group of Arab leaders.
The president will greet them as usual when he meets with roughly a dozen leaders, the administration official said.
Officials advised Biden to avoid personal contact, such as shaking hands, before his trip to the Middle East as a precaution against COVID-19. But in the end, the president shook hands with Israeli officials.
On Thursday, Biden stated that his opinion on the murder of Khashoggi was "absolutely" clear. Less than two years ago, following the murder of the journalist and during his presidential campaign, Biden made his "pariah" remark.
Although Biden stated that he will bring up human rights issues in Saudi Arabia, he did not specify if he would bring up the murder of Jamal Khashoggi with the country's officials.
Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, reiterated the kingdom's "abhorrence" of the killing in an article published in the American magazine Politico. She called it a gruesome atrocity and said it cannot define U.S.-Saudi relations.
She added that the "outdated and reductionist" oil-for-security model should not be used to frame the relationship.
"The world has changed, and without a strong U.S.-Saudi partnership, it will be impossible to address the grave threats facing us all, including food and energy security and climate change," she added.
The president and his advisors decided against isolating the kingdom, the top oil exporter in the world and a regional powerhouse that has been bolstering its ties with Russia and China, for reasons related to energy and security, particularly at a time when Gulf nations were concerned about what they perceived to be an American withdrawal from the region.
The United States wants Saudi Arabia and its OPEC partners to increase oil production to assist lower the high price of gasoline and lower the highest inflation in the country in four decades.
According to Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of S&P Global and an authority on international energy markets, "The Saudis definitely intend to increase capacity and with oil prices so high they have the wherewithal to do that, particularly as they see production constraints elsewhere in a market that is still growing."
During his visit, Biden will push for more Middle Eastern integration and promote peace, the person said.
He stated, "We will cover a variety of bilateral and regional problems, actually culminating many months of diplomacy and placing the United States and our allies for the future in a manner that serves our interests and theirs."
He mentioned issues including bolstering a cease-fire in the Yemeni conflict, "balancing" in the energy markets, and technological collaboration in 5G and 6G.
To combat the "image of chaos advocated by Iran," the Saudi ambassador said U.S.-Saudi efforts to maintain peace and security should concentrate on fostering cooperation and "reinforcing a rules-based system."
Concerns over Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs as well as Tehran's proxies in the area, where Shi'ite Iran and Saudi Arabia have competed for power, are shared by Gulf states with Israel.
On the first leg of his trip to the Middle East, Biden stopped in Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Yair Lapid and inked an agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies seeking.
The White House claims that Biden's flight will serve as a "small symbol" of improving ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which two years ago gave the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain permission to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. Biden will be the first American president to travel directly from Israel to Jeddah.
Prior to Biden's arrival, Saudi Arabia announced that it will make its airspace open to all airlines, allowing for additional overflights to and from Israel. Washington applauded this move as paving the way for a more cohesive, secure, and stable Middle East.
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