UK minister defends PM Johnson's plan to visit Riyadh for oil lobbying

British Health Secretary Sajid Javid has defended Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to travel to Saudi Arabia to lobby for action to keep oil prices in control amid a spiraling crisis in the global energy market.

The British premier’s visit is reportedly aimed at lobbying Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman to increase the country’s oil output as energy sanctions on Russia have begun to bite the West.

“It is important to recognize, whether we like it or not, that Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest oil producers,” Javid was quoted as saying on Monday.

“At a time of a major global energy crisis that has been caused by this war in Europe, it is right for the prime minister and other world leaders to engage with Saudi Arabia and try to work together where that makes sense,” he added.

The visit comes in the backdrop of the execution of 81 Saudi nationals by the regime in Riyadh, which has sent ripples of shock, anger, and outrage across the world.

The prisoners were executed in a single day over so-called ‘terror-related offenses,’ in what rights groups have dubbed the largest mass execution in recent memory.

UN rights chief slams mass execution of 81 people in Saudi Arabia amid US silence

The UN human rights chief has decried the recent mass execution of 81 people in a single day in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has also been involved in a devastating war in Yemen along with its Arab allies with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states. 

In an attempt to downplay the gross human rights violations perpetrated by Riyadh, the senior British official said the UK has shared a “long-standing relationship with Saudi Arabia.”

“It’s always been a very frank relationship where we have been very clear with Saudi Arabia that when it comes to human rights, there’s a lot we disagree on,” he asserted. “The executions you just referred to are clearly things that we would not support.”

Johnson wants to appeal to the Persian Gulf state to increase its oil output to replace supplies from Russia, which has been hit with Western sanctions over its military operation in Ukraine.

Rights group Amnesty International UK has criticized Johnson’s proposed visit to the Arab country, saying he should instead challenge the crown prince over mass executions and a 10-year travel ban slapped on blogging rights activist Raif Badawi.

Amnesty UK rights adviser Polly Truscott stressed that “Saudi Arabia mustn't be allowed a free pass over the civilians being killed by Saudi coalition airstrikes in Yemen.”

“Whether or not the PM makes it to Riyadh this week, the key point is that Saudi oil shouldn't be allowed to buy the world's silence over Saudi Arabia's terrible human rights record,” she told AFP.

The British authorities have started to worry as fuel prices have seen a staggering rise across the country after the British government confirmed phase-out oil imports from Russian during the current year.

After Saudi Arabia, Russia is the world’s largest producer of oil. It ranks first in the world for gas production.

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