China News Service, July 18 (Xinhua) According to a comprehensive report, on the 16th local time, US President Biden concluded his first visit to the Middle East since taking office.

During the four-day trip, Biden completed his first face-to-face meeting with the Egyptian president during his tenure, and his first meeting with the Saudi crown prince. He also held a "security and development" summit with leaders of nine countries in the Middle East.

On July 16, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden arrived at the White House in Washington to speak to reporters after his first trip to the Middle East in office.

　　How many substantive results have been achieved in this "oil diplomacy", and how far has Biden achieved a high-profile plan to open a "new chapter" of U.S. participation in Middle East affairs before his visit?

Going to the Middle East for oil,

Biden made a white trip?

　　Saudi Arabia is the last and most watched stop on Biden's Middle East trip.

On the one hand, due to soaring energy prices, whether the United States can persuade Saudi Arabia to increase oil production to “fight the fire” has attracted much attention. the eyes of the outside world.

On July 15, 2022, Biden "bumped fists" when he met with the Saudi crown prince.

　　When meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed, Biden's gesture of "banging his fists" caused controversy.

As early as during the 2020 election, Biden criticized Saudi Arabia over the killing of Khashoggi and repeatedly attacked its human rights issues.

　　The publisher of The Washington Post, where Khashoggi worked, called a fist bump more "shameful" than a handshake because "it represents intimacy and comfort."

　　At the subsequent press conference, someone else asked sharply: "President Biden, is Saudi Arabia still a 'untouchable state'?" Biden and his entourage had to pretend not to hear.

　　American public opinion believes that Biden's actions show that the United States has chosen to "compromise" on human rights issues in the face of a huge energy crisis.

　　So, did Biden's "compromise" get oil?

　　According to the "fact document" released by the White House, the bilateral meeting between the leaders of the United States and Saudi Arabia reached an agreement on strengthening cooperation in areas such as maritime security, infrastructure construction, information and communication, cyber security, and public health.

But on the most critical oil issue, there has been a lack of tangible results.

　　Saudi Arabia has announced that it is "capable" to increase domestic crude oil production capacity to 13 million barrels per day, but has no additional capacity to continue increasing crude oil production.

　　After the Biden-led delegation held talks with senior Saudi officials, the joint statement issued by the United States and Saudi Arabia did not mention increasing oil supply, only that the two countries "reaffirmed their commitment to the stability of the global energy market."

　　German media analysis pointed out that Saudi Arabia is willing to increase its oil production by 1 million barrels a day, but it does not necessarily mean an increase in actual oil production.

U.S. officials have also made similar predictions, arguing that Saudi Arabia will not increase oil production immediately, and are focusing on the specific decision at the "OPEC+" meeting on August 3.

　　US media earlier quoted Saudi officials as saying that now the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Russia has become closer than ever, and Riyadh neither intends to cut off its ties with Moscow, nor to extract more crude oil to help the US government deal with the energy crisis. plan.

OPEC+ has become a cornerstone of Saudi and Russian foreign policy.

　　Biden came to increase oil production, but failed to obtain a clear commitment. This visit is probably a waste of time.

Winning allies is in vain,

Is U.S. Influence Continuing to Shrink?

　　In fact, in addition to the few gains from his visit to Saudi Arabia, Biden's visit a few days ago did not cause much waves.

Data map: Biden and Israeli President Herzog.

　　In Israel, although Biden was warmly received, as soon as he left, the war reignited behind him.

According to Reuters, in the early morning of the 16th, rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, after which the Israel Defense Forces retaliated by sending fighter jets to carry out air strikes on military targets of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas condemned it, saying that the Israeli bombing "reflects the support and instigation of the United States".

　　In Bethlehem in the West Bank, Biden met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Biden reiterated his stance on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue through a "two-state solution".

The Palestinian president said he expects the U.S. government to take steps to strengthen bilateral relations, such as reopening the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem and removing the PLO from the U.S. terrorist list.

The two sides were said to be still in communication on the joint statement hours before Abbas and Biden met, but eventually gave up due to too many differences.

　　On the issue of coordinating Saudi-Israeli relations, after Saudi Arabia announced that it would open its airspace to all civil airlines, including Israel, it was strongly praised by the United States, but the Saudi Foreign Minister immediately "slapped" the United States at a press conference, saying that Saudi Arabia The decision to open the airspace has nothing to do with Israel's diplomatic relations and "is not a prelude to the normalization of Saudi-Israeli relations."

　　In addition, Biden's trip also led to protests in Iran.

Iranian President Raisi said that the intervention of foreign powers such as the United States in the affairs of the Middle East "will only create crisis and insecurity".

At the end of Biden's trip, the Iranian Foreign Ministry also released a new list of people including former US Secretary of State Pompeo and former National Security Assistant to the President Bolton, announcing sanctions on these people.

　　Some analysts believe that the United States continues to portray Iran as a "Middle East enemy" in the Middle East, trying to win over other countries to confront Iran.

However, many countries in the region believe that dialogue with Iran is the safest way to solve the problem.

　　At the just-concluded summit of regional leaders, the Saudi foreign minister emphasized that there was no discussion of any military cooperation with Israel, nor the so-called "Arab version of NATO."

　　During the meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed and Biden, the United States should not impose its values ​​on others, and if the United States wants other countries to have completely consistent values, only NATO will stay by its side.

　　From this point of view, Biden’s desire to use this trip to win over allies and create a “Middle East version of NATO” against countries such as Iran and Russia has almost failed.

　　Russia's Regnum news agency quoted Middle East expert Hussein Ruyolan as saying in an interview with Iranian media that the U.S. policy in the entire Middle East is no longer "strategic", but has become passive.

The purpose of Biden's trip is not long-term, but for temporary oil-related interests.

　　The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is even more blunt, "From a political point of view, Biden's trip may once again remind people that the influence of the United States in the Middle East is continuing to shrink." (End)