The leaders of the two Middle Eastern states refused to hold telephone talks with US President Joe Biden, who wanted to discuss the situation around Ukraine and the possibility of increasing oil production to reduce global hydrocarbon prices, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
"There were expectations of a phone call, but it didn't happen," the publication quoted a US official as saying about Biden's plans for talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. According to him, the matter should have been an increase in oil production due to rising energy prices amid sanctions of Western countries against Russia.
According to the newspaper, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and deputy commander-in-chief of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces, made a similar decision not to hold telephone talks.
As the newspaper notes, after the two Middle Eastern leaders refused to communicate with the White House chief, both held telephone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
On Tuesday, Biden signed an executive order banning energy imports from Russia and new investments in the Russian energy sector, causing WTI crude futures to rise to $124 a barrel, the price of Brent crude futures this week to hit a 10-year record of $128 a barrel for the first time. US gasoline prices hit an all-time high on Tuesday, and Biden said they would continue to rise, but there was nothing the US administration could do about it in the current environment.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS