Potential Saudi Trip Would Not Be Related to Energy, Biden Says

President Joe Biden on Saturday said any visit to Saudi Arabia would not be related to energy, reports The Hill.

However, he appeared to suggest that he had decided to go to the Kingdom when asked what was holding up his decision and whether it had to do with the U.S. waiting on commitments from the Saudis on negotiations over peace talks.

"The commitments from the Saudis don’t relate to anything having to do with energy. It happens to be a larger meeting taking place in Saudi Arabia. That’s the reason I’m going. And it has to do with national security for them, for Israelis…It has to do with much larger issues than having to do with the energy piece."

Biden is planning to potentially meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in a possible effort to stabilize oil markets amid ever-increasing gas prices and attempts to push Russian oil out of the market, according to recent reports. 

The larger meeting that Biden was referring to was possibly the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting being held in Riyadh later this month. 

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