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UK PM headsto KSA, UAE for talks on oil, Russia


By AFP
Published : 16 Mar 2022 09:14 PM

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have a crucial role to play in taming global oil markets after

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday as he jetted to the Gulf for talks.

Johnson is due to meet crown princes Mohammed bin Zayed and Mohammed bin Salman in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh on Wednesday, as part of his drive to help wean the West off a dependency on Russian oil.

The visit to Saudi Arabia in particular is controversial, after outrage from human rights groups at the mass execution last Saturday of 81 people.

Bin Salman has also been accused of masterminding the murder of journalist and Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

Johnson's spokesman insisted that he would raise human rights concerns and the executions, and he would ask bin Salman to condemn Russia's President Vladimir Putin over its assault on Ukraine.

Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE having so far avoided taking a position against Russia.

But Johnson said before leaving that the impact of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "brutal and unprovoked" assault will be felt far beyond Europe. And that as Western sanctions begin to bite, a new international coalition was needed to offset their impact on consumers already feeling the pinch from high inflation and rises in the cost of living. "The world must wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons and starve Putin's addiction to oil and gas," he said in a statement.

"Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are key international partners in that effort.

  "We will work with them to ensure regional security, support the humanitarian relief effort and stabilise global energy markets for the longer term."