◀ anchor ▶
Amid growing concerns that a global energy crisis is coming, President Biden, who visited Saudi Arabia to solve the oil price problem, has been criticized for returning home empty-handed without receiving a promise to increase oil production.
There are also concerns that oil prices will rise again without an increase in oil production.
Correspondent Kim Su-jin reported from Washington.
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He even gave a fist bump to the Saudi Crown Prince, who was blamed for the assassination of journalist Khashoggi, but President Biden never returned with his hand.
[조 바이든/미국 대통령]
“Why don’t you ask important questions? If you ask something important, I’ll be happy to tell you.”
In fact, there wasn’t much to answer.
A request to increase oil production, which was aimed at visiting Saudi Arabia despite criticism, was denied face-to-face.
[무함마드 빈 살만/사우디아라비아 왕세자]
“Saudi Arabia has already announced that it will increase production to 13 million barrels per day. It cannot afford to increase production any more.”
Still, the White House explained that there was a consensus on the increase in production between the two countries, but the Saudi government responded coldly, saying, “The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will decide to increase production according to the logic of the market.”
The US plan to contain the influence of China and Russia in the Middle East did not work well.
The Saudi government has said that China is Saudi Arabia’s biggest trading partner and that it will continue to engage in exchanges with China as well as the United States.
There are even criticisms of why they decided to go to Saudi Arabia in the first place, without much gain.
[버니 샌더스/미국 버몬트주 상원의원]
“I don’t think the president of the United States should visit a government like Saudi Arabia.”
The Washington Post, to which the assassinated Khashoggi belonged, sternly criticized Biden, calling his fist-fighting with the Crown Prince a “terrible betrayal.”
Now, attention is focused on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting scheduled for the 3rd of next month.
If a plan to increase production does not come out, President Biden is likely to face harsher criticism.
This is Kim Soo-jin from MBC News from Washington.
Video coverage: Lee Sang-do (Washington) / Video editing: Lee Sang-min
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