US President Joe Biden will receive the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, at the White House next Monday, to strengthen relations and discuss issues of common concern. This is the first visit of the Emir of Qatar to Washington since Biden took power a year ago.
And the Qatari Amiri Diwan announced in a statement on Wednesday that the talks between the Emir of Qatar and the US President “will address ways to support and strengthen the strong partnership and cooperation relations between the two countries, in addition to issues of common interest, foremost of which are the latest regional and international developments and ways to enhance security and stability in the region.”
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And US presidential spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced Tuesday evening that Biden will meet the Emir of Qatar on January 31.
In a statement, the US presidential spokeswoman said that the meeting will deal with “securing the stability of global energy supplies,” at a time when the United States and European countries are looking for alternatives if Russian gas supplies are cut off in the event that Moscow attacks Ukraine.
Among other issues, the statement added, “promoting security and prosperity in the Gulf and the Middle East in general” and “supporting the people of Afghanistan.”
Washington is concerned that a possible Russian military attack on Ukraine could lead to US and European sanctions on Moscow, which would halt the shipment of Russian gas to Europe.
And Archyde.com news agency quoted an informed source as saying that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken discussed the issue of gas supplies with Qatar’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in a phone call on Monday. The agency noted that “global gas supplies are already scarce, and Qatar Energy’s shipments are constrained by long-term supply contracts, which the company cannot easily break.”
And the US agency “Bloomberg” had reported that Biden would discuss with the Emir of Qatar the possibility of supplying gas to Europe. The agency added that US administration officials discussed with Qatar the possibility of supplying liquefied natural gas in the event that a “possible” Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a shortage of gas supplies to Europe.
It is noteworthy that European countries get more than 40 percent of natural gas from Russia, while about a third of Russian gas flowing to Europe passes through Ukraine.
Sheikh Tamim’s visit also aims to strengthen relations with Washington that have strengthened since Doha hosted talks that led to the 2020 agreement for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, and played a pivotal role in the evacuation efforts during the US withdrawal. Qatar, the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas, has become the US diplomatic representative in Afghanistan, which is now under Taliban rule.
And earlier, the Wall Street Journal suggested that the “drone deal” that Qatar had submitted earlier and had not been decided upon, would be a priority on the Emir of Qatar’s agenda during his visit to the White House.
The Qatari government submitted a formal request more than a year ago to purchase four armed MQ-9B drones, according to the Wall Street Journal, which indicated that “the US State Department has not yet acted on the Qatari request and its officials have rejected Disclosure of the reason.
The newspaper quoted a Qatari official as saying that “the frustration from our point of view is that there is no clear indication of the reason for the delay in our request,” adding that “the recent evacuations in Afghanistan prove that Qatar is always ready to support its allies and for the purposes of security and stability.”
It also quoted Qatari officials as saying that they “will use drones to monitor the vast natural gas facilities to prevent terrorist activity and in other areas to monitor the threats posed by terrorists in the region.”