After the ice age between the White House and the Royal Palace in Riyadh, a thaw may now be on the horizon. At the end of June, President Joe Biden will travel to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.
The US and Saudi Arabia have long been close allies, and Riyadh even aggressively contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union. But that was a long time ago and the Saudis now have excellent relations with Russia, which they have built over the past decade and do not want to be destroyed by the war in Ukraine. Much to the dismay of the Americans.
There were cracks in friendship during the so-called Arab Spring, when the United States had great sympathy for the opposition in Egypt, that is, for the Muslim Brotherhood, who are considered terrorists in Riyadh. Riyadh’s rejected nuclear deal with nemesis Iran under former US President Barack Obama did the rest.
Successor Donald Trump made up for it from a Saudi point of view by terminating this contract and was therefore invited to the traditional sword dance in Riyadh. But then came Joe Biden.
Saudi Arabia, the “pariah state”
Biden literally called Saudi Arabia a “pariah state” and had a U.S. intelligence report released blaming Saudi Crown Prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) for the killing of journalist and regime critic Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in October 2018. in Istanbul. Riyadh always rejected this, stating that the perpetrators had acted on their own initiative.
Calls from Washington ignored
However, the rift between Biden and MbS was so deep that the phone at the royal palace went unanswered when the White House called. MbS has portrayed Biden as a senile jerk in TV satires and has publicly said he “just doesn’t care” what the US president thinks of him.
Just a few weeks ago, MbS wrote in a guest article for the American magazine “The Atlantic”: “We have no right to lecture you in America. The same is true vice versa.” It is up to Biden to think about the interests of the United States, which Biden has now apparently done in view of the war in Ukraine: the US president will pay his respects to the Saudi crown prince, just as MbS wishes.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
