Johnson to warn of ‘far reaching consequences’ of Russian invasion on Gulf visit
The Prime Minister will meet leaders in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh today for talks on energy, regional security and humanitarian relief, as he galvanises global action on the crisis in Ukraine.
This follows the execution of 81 people in Saudi Arabia last Saturday.
Boris Johnson told reporters this morning that he plans to take the Kingdom’s leaders to task over its record of human rights abuses.
He will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed in the United Arab Emirates before travelling to Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Johnson says he will discuss the importance of allies working together to increase the diplomatic and economic pressure on President Putin’s regime and minimise the global fallout from the conflict. The leaders are expected to discuss efforts to improve energy security and reduce volatility in energy and food prices, which is affecting businesses and consumers in the UK as well as regional stability in the Middle East.
In addition to potential further measures to increase oil production, the prime minister claims to be focused on diversifying the UK’s energy supply and working with international partners to ramp up renewables.
Saudi Arabia, for example, is the third largest supplier of diesel to the UK, but the Kingdom also committed to net zero by 2060 ahead of COP26 and is investing heavily in green technology at home and in the UK.
Boris Johnson said ahead of the visit: “The brutal and unprovoked assault President Putin has unleashed on Ukraine will have far-reaching consequences for the world, well beyond Europe’s borders. The UK is building an international coalition to deal with the new reality we face.
“The world must wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons and starve Putin’s addiction to oil and gas. 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.”
“Today’s funding announcement follows a commitment last year by Saudi firm SABIC to invest up to an additional £850 million to reopen their hydrocarbons ‘cracker’ at Wilton and decarbonise their operations in the north-east of England. The prime minister is expected to visit SABIC’s innovation centre in Riyadh and meet representatives from the alfanar group.
“Through our Sovereign Investment Partnership, since 2021 the UAE has already invested in excess of £3bn across life sciences, technology, infrastructure in the UK – as well as a multi-billion pound investment from BP and ADNOC in clean hydrogen hubs,” he went on.
Johnson says he will also discuss shared strategic priorities with the leaders of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including the situation in Iran and Yemen, increased security cooperation, trade and investment and supporting human rights and civil society.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the UK’s two largest economic partners in the Middle East, with bilateral trade worth £12.2bn and £10.4bn in 2020 respectively.
