JEDDAH: On Saturday, US Vice President Joe Biden assured Arab leaders that Washington will continue to be actively involved in the Middle East and would not lose influence to other global powers.
Biden made the statement during a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the coast of the Red Sea.
In recent years, a number of issues have strained US relations with Gulf states, particularly Washington’s push for a deal to rein in Iran’s shady nuclear programme and its lackadaisical response to attacks on Saudi oil facilities in 2019 that Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels claimed responsibility for.
The summit, which is the last stop on Biden’s Middle East tour, brings together Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and the six other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Biden intended to use the trip to talk about the erratic oil prices and to lay out his ideas for the role that Washington should play in the area.
He met with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on Friday.
The future will be won by nations that “unleash the full potential of their populations…where individuals can question and criticise leaders without fear of punishment,” Biden told the gathered Arab leaders.In light of the growing food hunger brought on by the conflict in Ukraine, Biden said that the US would provide $1 billion in food aid to the Middle East and North Africa.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has revealed a hitherto inconceivable divide between Washington and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two important Middle Eastern allies that are becoming more independent on the global stage.
The affluent Gulf states, which host US forces and have consistently supported Washington for years, have made a point of declining to back the Biden administration as it seeks to cut off Moscow’s lifelines, including energy and diplomacy.
