British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will start a visit to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the “key partners”, to calm global energy markets after the invasion of Ukraine and help the West reduce its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons.
Johnson will meet in the UAE, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and then hold talks with Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the hope of persuading them to join the alliance against Russia and to increase oil production for their countries.
But Johnson’s visit to Saudi Arabia raises a lot of controversy in Britain because of the kingdom’s performance in the field of human rights.
In the face of criticism from human rights defenders for his visit to Saudi Arabia, especially after the execution of 81 people, on Saturday, Johnson’s spokesman said that Britain “strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and in all countries,” according to what AFP quoted.
Saudi Arabia’s relations with the West are tense due to a number of human rights issues, including the Yemen war and the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
And Saudi Arabia announced, on Saturday, that it had executed, in one day, 81 people convicted of various crimes related to “terrorism” in one of the world’s most executed countries, which is a record number for one day and exceeds the total number of executions that included 69 people in 2021.
The spokesman confirmed that Johnson would discuss these executions with the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
He continued, “We are systematically raising human rights issues with other countries, including Saudi Arabia, and we will discuss Saturday’s executions with the government in Riyadh.”
A group of British MPs had expressed their deep concern after Saudi Arabia’s execution of 81 men, as MP Crispin Blunt addressed an urgent question in the House of Commons, saying that the latest verdict represented “a new low for human rights and criminal justice in the Kingdom.”
Also, Julian Lewis, the Conservative chair of the House of Commons Intelligence and Security Committee, called on the government to ensure that in its quest to replace energy from Russia with oil from Saudi Arabia, it was not creating “dependence on another unreliable and sometimes hostile regime”.
Returning to the energy file, Johnson considered in a statement that the “brutal and unjustified attack” on Ukraine would have consequences “exceeding the borders of Europe”, stressing that he wanted to build an “international coalition” to confront this “new reality”.
He added that “the world should be weaned off Russian oil and gas” to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of oil and gas revenues.
The Prime Minister added that “Saudi Arabia and the UAE are major international partners in this effort,” stressing that he will work with them to ensure regional security, support humanitarian aid efforts, and achieve long-term stability in global energy markets.
On Thursday, the seven major industrialized countries, including the United Kingdom, called on oil and gas producing countries to “increase their shipments” to counter the rise in energy prices due to the war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed on Russia.
The British Cabinet said discussions would focus on “efforts to improve energy security and reduce the volatility of energy and food prices affecting British businesses and consumers” who mainly face a rising cost of living.
The talks will also deal with “regional stability” in the Middle East, according to the British government’s presidency.
In an article published Tuesday in the “Daily Telegraph” newspaper, Boris Johnson called on Western countries to reduce their dependence on Russian hydrocarbons, stressing that allowing Vladimir Putin to “get away” after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and increasing dependence on Russian gas and oil was a “fatal mistake.”
He lamented that Putin “when he finally launched his brutal war in Ukraine, he knew the world would find it difficult to punish him.”