Biden heads to Saudi Arabia seeking reset amid tensions

President’s trip aims to reset US-Saudi relationship, with energy supply, human rights and security on the agenda.

US President Joe Biden is travelling to Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to meet senior officials despite a previous promise to treat the kingdom as  a “pariah” over the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden departed directly from Israel for the Red Sea coast city of Jeddah on Friday – becoming the first US president to fly from there to an Arab nation that does not recognize it. In 2017, his predecessor, Donald Trump, made the journey in reverse.

The trip is designed to reset the US relationship with the kingdom and during which energy supply, human rights and security cooperation are on the agenda.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on board Air Force One on Friday that Biden will lay out “clearly and substantively” his vision for Washington’s engagement in the Middle East during his meetings in Saudi Arabia.

“He’s intent on ensuring that there is not a vacuum in the Middle East for China and Russia to fill, that American leadership and American engagement will be a feature of US policy in this region, and that we intend to play a critical role in this strategically vital region on an ongoing basis,” Sullivan said.

The White House said Biden would hold a bilateral meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the royal palace in Jeddah and then the president and his team would have a working session with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS and Saudi ministers at the palace.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES