Saudi, UAE Leaders Dodge Calls With Biden

The de facto leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s Emirate of Abu Dhabi have both dodged phone calls with US President Joe Biden as the war in Ukraine has hit crisis proportions, along with a worldwide surge in oil prices. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday first reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan both declined to take phone calls from President Biden in recent weeks. Both Prince Mohammed and Sheikh Mohamed took phone calls from Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and both later spoke with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have an energy alliance with Russia and say they will not raise their oil output, per OPEC+ guidelines, even as the US has placed sanctions on Russian oil over its invasion of Ukraine. Biden has had strained relations with Saudi Arabia over the crown prince’s alleged involvement in the murder and coverup of US-Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and over the Saudis’ desire for more US support for their intervention in Yemen’s civil war. The Emirates also have come under attack by the Iran-backed Houthis, and both countries are concerned about the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, pressed by Biden. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday spoke by phone with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and discussed the international response to the invasion of Ukraine. Blinken also “underscored the US commitment to help the UAE bolster its strong defensive capabilities against threats from Yemen and elsewhere in the region,” according to a readout of the call.