French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for talks in Paris on Thursday.
The meeting will be seen as one more sign of Prince Mohammed’s rising global profile after US President Joe Biden met him earlier this month.
The topics set to loom over the meeting include energy supply as concern grows over possible power shortages due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as reining in the nuclear programme of Riyadh’s top regional foe Iran.
Prince Mohammed who is portrayed at home as a champion of social and economic reform arrives in France fresh from a trip to Greece to discuss energy ties.
The kingdom is seen by many in the West as an essential partner due to its energy resources, purchases of weaponry and staunch opposition to Iran’s theocratic regime.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made the oil and gas reserves of the kingdom all the more important for the West.
The French president had already travelled to the kingdom in December 2021 for talks with the Crown Prince.
Macron will be meeting Prince Mohammed fresh from talks with two close allies of the kingdom, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. The red carpet welcome for both leaders dismayed activists.
Macron will also be arriving from a three-nation tour of Africa, where he visited Cameroon, Benin and Guinea Bissau, none of which are seen as exemplary democracies.
After the recent fist-bump greeting from Biden that for many symbolised the West’s re-acceptance of Prince Mohammed, there will be huge interest in the body language between Macron and Prince Mohammed.
The talks are set to get underway late in the day, at 8:30 pm (1830 GMT), and include a working dinner at the Elysee Palace. Prince Mohammed reportedly arrived late Wednesday at a Paris airport and headed to a private residence outside the city.
“The war in Ukraine has put the energy-producing countries back in the spotlight, and they are taking advantage of it,” said Camille Lons, research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).