RIYADH (Middle East Eye) – Two of U.S. President Joe Biden’s senior advisors have reportedly visited Saudi Arabia for talks to increase oil production and the possible normalization of ties with the Zionist regime, Axios reported.
White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk and State Department energy envoy Amos Hochstein reportedly met with senior Saudi officials, Axios reported, citing three current and former U.S. officials.
Earlier this week, Axios reported that the Biden administration had been quietly mediating between Saudi Arabia, the Zionist regime and Egypt on the transfer of two strategic islands which, if successful, could be the first step on the road to the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and the occupying regime.
The news also comes days after CNN reported that Biden could travel to Saudi Arabia next month and meet the country’s de facto ruler, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
While on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said more steps must be taken to find a solution to the Zionist-Palestinian issue before possible normalization with the occupying regime.
“We have always seen normalization as the end result for a path. Normalization between the region and Israel will bring benefits but we won’t be able to reap those benefits unless we are able to address the issue of Palestine,” he said.
Biden’s visit would come amid a major strain in relations between the two longstanding allies. Washington and Riyadh have clashed over the kingdom’s response to the war in Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia has rejected pleas from the Biden administration to pump more oil at a time of rising prices.
On the campaign trail, Biden pledged to make the kingdom the “pariah that they are” for the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and famously ruled out dealing directly with MBS.
Upon taking office, he permitted the release of a report by U.S. intelligence agencies that concluded that MBS likely ordered the killing of Khashoggi inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.