PM turns to brutal Saudi regime for help as Putin brutality fuels energy crisis

Boris Johnson is traveling to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to plead with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to increase oil production to help the West detox from Russia’s energy addiction

As Russia mounts new attacks against the Ukrainian people, Boris Johnson is heading to Saudi Arabia, where 81 people were executed this week for protesting the country’s brutal regime.

The largest mass execution in modern Saudi Arabia’s history was at the behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was also guilty of the brutal bombing of civilians in Yemen and was implicated in the assassination of his family. Jamal Khashoggi newspaper in 2018 in the US.

However, the Prime Minister went to Riyadh to beg bin Salman to increase oil production to help the West cut Russian energy.

He will also make a similar plea to Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed in the UAE, also for human rights violations.

Mr Johnson said: “The UK is building an international coalition to deal with the new reality we face.

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“The world must detox from Russia’s hydrocarbon addiction and starve Putin’s oil addiction. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are important international partners in that.”

“We want to build the broadest possible coalition,” he said.

Ed Miliband, US Secretary of State for Climate and Zero Network, said: “It is an indication of our energy vulnerability and insecurity as a country where the Prime Minister The general will go to Saudi Arabia in search of an increase in oil production, despite the horrors of the human condition. rights records. ”

Polly Truscott, of Amnesty International UK, said: “Saudi Arabia’s oil should not be allowed to buy back the world’s silence on Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record.” .

Mike Davis, of Global Witness, said: “Oil fuels conflict. Instead of running to the limit at hand, with Riyadh, the Prime Minister should focus on how we can quickly invest in renewable energy. “

Julian Lewis of the Conservatives, chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, called for assurances that the UK would not become dependent on another “unreliable, sometimes hostile” regime.

Katie Fallon of the Campaign Against Arms Trade said Britain’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia had “encouraged” the kingdom to “violate” humanitarian law in Yemen.

Mr Johnson, who will be traveling overnight before starting in the UAE, wrote in the Telegraph today: “As long as the West is economically dependent on Putin, he will do all he can to exploit it. that dependency… And that’s why that dependency must – and will – now end. ”

Tory MPs today called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to combat “eye-popping” fuel costs with tax cuts.