The working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Friday June 16 at the Elysée, was a form of appetizer. In the midst of a diplomatic offensive, the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Ben Salman, intends to take advantage of the week he will be spending in the French capital to promote Riyadh’s candidacy for the organization of the 2030 World Expo. It is more for him, as when he came to France in July 2022, to boos from human rights organizations, to try to rehabilitate his image abroad after the murder by agents dispatched from Riyadh , in 2018, of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul (Turkey).
Although his reputation remains tainted by this event, the young 37-year-old prince, nicknamed “MBS”, now knows he is unavoidable and deploys all-out diplomacy with the aim of promoting the economic interests of the kingdom and its post- oil, Vision 2030.
“The Saudi crown prince is growing in power, he is empowering himself from the United States, and in the Middle East, nothing is done without the Saudis. So it’s important to see it, it’s realpolitik. But should we expect breakthroughs, as on the Lebanese file? I do not believe that “comments a good connoisseur of the file.
The tete-a-tete at the Elysee Palace between Mohammed Ben Salman and Emmanuel Macron, who speak to each other regularly on the phone, was an opportunity to take an overview of bilateral relations and current issues. The Elysée had promised that the question of executions would be raised, after Amnesty International warned of “a frightening escalation in the already record use of the death penalty” and, in particular, on the fate of seven young Saudis, sentenced to death for “so-called crimes” committed when they were minors. Executions have increased sevenfold over the past three years. In a press release issued after the meeting, the Elysée simply mentioned “France’s attachment to universal values”.
The hope that MBS put pressure on Russia
On Ukraine, a priority issue for Paris, President Macron is trying to convince Saudi Arabia to use his influence with Russia to draw a way out of the crisis that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. .
As part of its partnership with Moscow within OPEC+, Riyadh nevertheless continues to spare Russia its share of quotas while reducing its production to keep black gold prices high. MBS’s invitation to President Volodymyr Zelensky to address the Arab League in Jeddah on May 19 was hailed as a “turning” by Mr. Macron. “Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries that can play the role of mediator between Russia and Ukraine because it speaks to both”suggests the Saudi analyst Mohammed Alyahya, attached to the Harvard Kennedy School.
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