The Wall Street Journal, citing Saudi officials, said that while US President Joe Biden is preparing to visit Saudi Arabia, the kingdom is closer than ever to Russia.
AndThe Wall Street Journal quotes Saudi officials They say that as President Biden prepares to visit Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich kingdom is closer than ever to Russia and has no plans to secede from Moscow or help Washington by pumping more oil.
An evolving partnership between Russia and Saudi Arabia, based on their massive oil production capacity, has turned on its head the Washington-Riyadh oil-for-security agreement that lasted nearly half a century and was a key component of World War II after World War II. war.
Ahead of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the Saudis “ignored calls from the West to export more oil to help lower global prices, which soared to nearly $140 a barrel in March and have largely remained above $100 a barrel since late last year. In February, he explained, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was a close ally of Washington during the Cold War and served as a staging area for U.S. troops in the 1999 Gulf War, but relations were severed by former U.S. President Barack Obama’s attempt to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, an enemy of the Saudis, in 2015, in the era of former President Donald Trump pulling out of the deal, the US sought to strengthen relations with Riyadh, but the assassination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in 2018 caused tensions, and The West has distanced itself from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed, Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
While “Russian President Vladimir Putin deepened his personal relationship with the young prince at a time when much of the developed world ignored him,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the report, “U.S. officials have made it clear that Biden is determined to contain the kingdom’s penchant for Russia, which has thwarted his efforts to lower high inflation, sapped his approval rating and undermined the Democratic Party’s hopes of remaining in Congress.” and President Biden plans to meet this week with King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and his son, the crown prince who rules the kingdom day in and day out.” leaders’ agenda is oil.
Sullivan told reporters, “We believe there is a need to ensure there is sufficient supply in the global marketplace to protect people and competition, and to protect the American consumer… We believe there is room to take further steps.”
While Saudi officials reaffirmed that they are “committed to making oil decisions through the OPEC+ alliance and in consultation with Russia” as “high prices help Russia fund its government” in a military operation and “cause economic pain for West”. ”, according to the newspaper, since “OPEC +” includes 13 countries that are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries plus 10 other oil producers led by Russia, which together produce about half of world oil production and have 90% of reserves.
For Russia, partnership with Saudi Arabia is part of its effort to capitalize on Washington’s desire, in light of successive administrations, to reduce American involvement in Middle East conflicts now that the region no longer supplies the United States with oil.
He pointed out that “for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an alliance with Russia relieves Riyadh of the burden of painful cuts in oil production when oil prices rise significantly to the displeasure of Washington.”
U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal that Saudi Arabia remains firmly in the Western camp, noting that it voted in this year’s UN General Assembly to condemn Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
He quoted Saudi officials as saying they were “surprised” by the Russian military operation in Ukraine, but were helping Russia while hindering the West along the way.
“In late 2021, with Russia massing forces on the border with Ukraine, Russian and Saudi oil officials agreed that they would allow oil prices to continue to rise,” the report said.
After all, prices after the Russian operation reached levels that have not been seen for almost 15 years, and this is one result of high oil prices: “Russia created a financial barrier that softened the impact of subsequent sanctions imposed by the West,” the report says. newspaper.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Even if Biden succeeds in persuading the Saudis to renegotiate relations with Moscow, the kingdom may not be able to provide further assistance on oil prices, with Saudi Arabia already expecting its oil production to reach 11 million barrels a day in August. , a level the kingdom saw just eight weeks ago, while Saudi oil officials said maintaining 11 million barrels a day for more than a few months would be difficult because it is a costly process that could damage oil reservoirs.
Source: Wall Street Journal.