Johnson's Gulf visit crit8k8 com casinoicized

Critics question feasibility of Britain's plan to avoid buying Russian energy

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the Gulf region on Wednesday to have talks with senior figures from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in a bid to lead an international effort for the world to, in his own words, "wean itself off Russian hydrocarbons and starve (President Vladimir) Putin's addiction to oil and gas" in the aftermath of the conflict in Ukraine.

Depriving Russia of income derived from its fossil fuel resources would be the latest financial blow applied to Russia as the conflict continues, with many countries having already announced plans to source their energy supplies from elsewhere.

To this end, Johnson was meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, before going to Riyadh for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"When we look at the dependency the West in particular has built up on Putin's hydrocarbons, on Putin's oil and gas, we can see what a mistake that was," Johnson told reporters when he arrived in Abu Dhabi. "We need independence."

However, he has been criticized for the timing of the visit, which comes just days after 81 people were executed in Saudi Arabia, and following the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an event which, at the time, Johnson called a "barbaric act" and likened to something from "the playbook of Vladimir Putin", referring to the "ostentatious horror of this murder".

When this was pointed out to him on his current visit, Johnson said: "I've raised all those issues many, many times ... since I was foreign secretary and beyond and I'll raise them all again today.

"But we have long, long standing relationships with this part of the world and we need to recognize the very important relationship that we have."

Labour's shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband said the nature and timing of Johnson's visit was "a sign of our vulnerability and energy insecurity".

"Once again it demonstrates that the best solution to the energy crisis we face is a green energy sprint at home so once and for all we end of our dependence on fossil fuels," he added.

But Foreign Secretary Liz Truss defended Johnson's visit, saying the current international situation showed the importance of acting decisively.

"I'm not condoning every action by the Saudi government," she told the BBC Radio 4 Today program.

"What I'm saying, though, is we are facing such a serious threat from Vladimir Putin-a threat we didn't take seriously enough in 2008 and 2014-that we need to throw everything at it.

"We need to be prepared to work with countries we don't necessarily agree with because this is a threat to global security in a way that no other country poses that level of threat."