Two of Biden's Advisors Secretly Arrive in Saudi Arabia

Two advisors to U.S. President Joe Biden have secretly arrived in Saudi Arabia to convince the kingdom's authorities to increase oil production. This was reported by the Axios portal.

Brett McGurk, the coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, and Amos Hochstein, the senior advisor for global energy security at the State Department, visited Riyadh on May 24. According to Axios, the White House is mediating talks aimed at normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Egypt.

To that end, Egypt is expected to hand over the Tiran and Sanafir islands in the Red Sea to the Saudi kingdom. Washington is also requesting Riyadh to increase oil production. In doing so, the U.S. president aims to reduce gas prices ahead of the upcoming midterm elections and to impose new sanctions against Russian oil.