Thirst for oil forcing Joe Biden to pivot US back to Saudi Arabia. Will king-in-waiting play along?
- US-Saudi relations complicated by Joe Biden’s refusal to deal directly with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
- Saudi Arabia has built deeper ties with Russia and China as the US sought to shift focus from the region
US President Joe Biden has been reluctantly drawn into closer ties with Saudi Arabia’s king-in-waiting, forced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to rethink a stand-offish approach as the US struggles to curb soaring oil prices.
The problem is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman isn’t ready to play along.
The softening US attitude, described by a dozen people familiar with the debate, follows months of efforts by some senior administration officials to convince a wary president that ignoring the de facto Saudi leader was hampering US foreign policy goals.
The need to isolate Moscow gave new impetus to that push. One official described Russia’s aggression as a paradigm-shifting event that changes the way the US looked at Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is the Middle East’s economic powerhouse and for years has been a political heavyweight in the region’s affairs and a dominant force in OPEC+ – a powerful alliance between the oil-exporters’ cartel and Russia. It’s also one of the biggest buyers of American weapons.
