Biden starts sensitive Saudi Arabia visit, no immediate oil pledge expected

By Steve Holland and Aziz El Yaakoubi

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) -President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday to discuss energy supply, human rights, and security cooperation on a trip designed to reset the U.S. relationship with a country he once pledged to make a "pariah" on the world stage.

Energy and security interests prompted the president and his aides to decide not to isolate the kingdom, the world's top oil exporter and regional powerhouse that has been strengthening ties with Russia and China.

But the U.S. national security adviser dampened expectations of any immediate oil supply boost to help bring down high costs of gasoline and ease the highest U.S. inflation in four decades.

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.

Jeddah hosts a larger gathering of Arab leaders on Saturday.

Biden will discuss energy security with leaders of Gulf oil producers and hopes to see more action by OPEC+ to boost output, but there were unlikely to be any bilateral announcements from the talks, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters en route to Jeddah from Israel.

"We believe any further action taken to ensure that there is sufficient energy to protect the health of the global economy, it will be done in the context of OPEC+," said Sullivan. "We are hopeful that we will see additional actions by OPEC+ in coming weeks."

The OPEC+ group that includes Russia meets next on Aug. 3.

Biden's sensitive trip will be closely watched for body language and rhetoric and will test his ability to reset relations with Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince.

U.S. intelligence concluded that MbS directly approved the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, while the crown prince denies having a role in the killing.

Biden wants to "recalibrate" Washington's relations with Saudi Arabia and not rupture them, Sullivan stressed.

White House advisers have declined to say whether Biden will shake hands with the prince, the kingdom's de facto ruler. Biden will meet with a broader set of Arab leaders at a summit in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah on Saturday.

"The president's going to meet about a dozen leaders and he'll greet them as he usually does," a senior Biden administration official said earlier.

At the start of Biden's Middle East trip, officials said he would avoid close contacts, such as shaking hands, as a precaution against COVID-19. But the president ended up engaging in hand-shaking in Israel.

Biden said on Thursday his position on Khashoggi's murder was "absolutely" clear. Biden made his "pariah" comment less than two years ago after the journalist's killing and while campaigning for president.

Biden said he would raise human rights in Saudi Arabia, but he did not say specifically if he would broach the Khashoggi murder with its leaders.

Saudi ambassador to the United States Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, writing in U.S. magazine Politico, reiterated the kingdom's "abhorrence" of the killing, describing it as a gruesome atrocity, and said it cannot define U.S.-Saudi ties.

She said the relationship should also not be seen in the "outdated and reductionist" oil-for-security paradigm.

"The world has changed and the existential dangers facing us all, including food and energy security and climate change, cannot be resolved without an effective U.S.-Saudi alliance."

"GROUNDBREAKING" MOVES

Biden will encourage peace and press for a more integrated Middle East during his trip, the administration official said. Topics include strengthening a truce in Yemen, "balance" in energy markets and technological cooperation in 5G and 6G.

Ahead of the visit, Saudi Arabia said it would open its airspace to all air carriers, paving the way for more overflights to and from Israel, in what Biden described as a historic and important step towards building a more integrated and stable Middle East.

"I will do all that I can, through direct diplomacy and leader-to-leader engagement, to keep advancing this groundbreaking process," Biden said.

He will be the first American president to fly from Israel directly to Jeddah, a step the White House says represents a “small symbol” of warming Israeli-Saudi ties. Two years ago, Riyadh gave a tacit nod for the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalise relations with Israel.

The U.S.-brokered deals known as the Abraham Accords established a new axis in the region, where Gulf states share Israel's concerns about Iran's nuclear and missiles programmes and proxy network. Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Muslim Iran have for years vied for regional influence but launched direct talks last year in an effort to contain tensions.

The Saudi ambassador said U.S.-Saudi efforts to ensure peace and security should focus on enhancing cooperation and "reinforcing a rules-based system" to confront the "vision of chaos promoted by Iran".

During his visit to Israel, Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint pledge to deny Iran nuclear weapons, which the Islamic Republic denies seeking.