WT: Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia will help Russia

The visit of US President Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia to sign an agreement to increase oil production could turn into an unexpected victory for Russia, writes columnist Ben Wolfgang for The Washington Times.

The author recalled a report recently published by Reuters, according to which Riyadh more than doubled imports of Russian fuel in the second quarter to generate electricity and release its own oil for export, including to the United States.

"A significant increase in energy supplies from Russia has undermined the efforts of the United States and NATO to weaken Moscow by reducing its export earnings," Wolfgang wrote.

In his opinion, if Biden convinces the leaders of Saudi Arabia to increase production and purchases of energy resources, Russia will continue to actively earn on the sale of fuel to the Middle Eastern countries, thereby "reaping the benefits" of the agreements between Washington and Riyadh.

Biden from July 13 to 16 makes the first tour as US President to the Middle East. He had already visited Israel the day before.