Macron and Saudi leader agree to ease effects of Ukraine war

‘President Macron is shaking the hand for a long time of a man whose hands are covered in blood’

FRANCE’S president Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed to work “to ease the effects” of the Ukraine war after talks in Paris that marked the diplomatic rehabilitation of the Saudi leader.

Like US president Joe Biden who visited Riyadh earlier this month, Mr Macron had been keen to secure extra oil production from the de facto Saudi leader, who was a pariah in the West until recently.

A French statement said the two men had agreed to “intensify their co-operation to ease the effects [of the war] in Europe, the Middle East and the world” during a dinner on Thursday night.

While Mr Biden fist-bumped the prince as he arrived in Riyadh, Mr Macron smiled warmly and shook both of his hands on the steps of the Élysée Palace as he welcomed the prince.

“He’s shaking the hand for a long time of a man whose hands are covered in blood,” senior Left-wing MP Alexis Corbière told BFM TV.

The meeting angered rights groups because of the crown prince’s suspected personal role in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, which he denies.

Western leaders snubbed the 36-yearold after Saudi agents killed Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul.

But the heir to the Middle East’s most powerful throne is being courted again as Europe and its allies urgently seek fresh sources of fossil fuels to replace lost Russian production.

As he left yesterday, Prince Mohammed expressed his “deepest gratitude and appreciation for the warm reception and hospitality” in a statement posted online by the Saudi foreign ministry.

Allies of Mr Macron defended a meeting that has been portrayed as a case study in “Realpolitik” – putting practical needs above principles in foreign policy.

Agnès Callamard, the head of Amnesty International, said she felt “profoundly troubled by the visit”.