Biden shakes hands with Saudi Bin Salman at G20 summit

Khashoggi was an opinion journalist for the Post who often wrote articles critical of the Saudi government. In 2018, after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was found dismembered. The CIA, under the Trump administration, released a report that bin Salman ordered the killing.

Following Biden’s July 2022 meeting with MBS at the Al Salam Royal Palace in Jeddah, which the president used in part to discuss U.S. energy priorities, Biden scoffed at the question of a reporter on the fist-bumping greeting between them.

Fred Ryan, the Washington Post’s publisher at the time, called the interaction “shameful.”

The ongoing relationship between the two leaders has sparked criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, which includes heavy religious restrictions, state-sanctioned torture and media repression.

Saudi Arabia and Russia both extended their voluntary oil production cuts until the end of the year on Tuesday, sending oil prices soaring to a record high. last November. This tension could play a role in the 2024 US presidential election if the cuts continue, given that energy policy and oil prices have been a dominant theme in political attacks on the administration’s handling of the economy. Biden administration.

At the G20 event, Biden and bin Salman were seated alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The economic partnership is seen as a counterweight to the China-led infrastructure project, the New Silk Road, which stretches across Europe, Africa and Asia. Li Qiang, China’s premier and the country’s envoy to the summit, was not present at the G20 event.

“We aim to usher in a new era of connectivity with a railway, linked by ports linking Europe, the Middle East and Asia,” the White House said in a statement. “The United States underscores our unwavering commitment to pursuing transformative regional investments and working to build this corridor with our partners. »