Biden wants to strengthen “a strategic partnership” with Saudi Arabia

US President Joe Biden said on Saturday he intends to “strengthen a strategic partnership” with Saudi Arabia during a controversial visit there next week, but added that he will uphold “fundamental American values”.

“I know there are many who disagree with my decision to travel to Saudi Arabia. My views on human rights are clear and long-standing, and fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad, as they will be during this trip,” Biden wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece published Saturday .

While Biden is expected to push for increased Saudi oil production in hopes of curbing rising fuel costs and inflation at home, his visit signals a shift: an apparent abandonment of efforts by the kingdom’s de facto leader , Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to outlaw the horrific murder of a dissident.

As a presidential candidate, Biden said the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi — a Saudi-born US citizen known for writing articles critical of the kingdom’s rulers for the Washington Post — shut the country down made to an “outcast”.

US intelligence findings released by the Biden administration identified bin Salman, often referred to as MBS, as the mastermind of the operation.

Last month, Biden tried to distance himself from the upcoming encounter, telling reporters he would meet with King Salman and his team.

But the White House confirmed earlier this week that he will meet MBS as part of that larger delegation during the trip.

“As President, my job is to keep our country strong and secure,” Trump wrote in the Washington Post on Saturday.

“We must confront Russia’s aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to surpass China, and work to bring more stability to an important region of the world,” he continued.

“To do these things, we need to work directly with countries that can influence these outcomes. Saudi Arabia is one of them, and when I meet with Saudi leaders on Friday, my goal will be to strengthen a strategic partnership for the future, based on mutual interests and responsibilities, while remaining true to core American values .”

Biden will also visit Israel and the West Bank during his July 13-16 trip, which he wrote will begin “a new and more promising chapter in American engagement” in the Middle East.

He said the region is “more stable and secure” than when he took over the US presidency in January 2021, citing in particular the recent thaw in relations between Israel and some Arab nations.

“These are promising trends that can empower the United States in ways no other country can,” Biden said.

And he touched on the Iran nuclear deal, agreed with world powers in 2015 but abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump three years later.

“My administration will continue to increase diplomatic and economic pressure until Iran is ready to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, which I remain ready to do,” Biden wrote.