In their scramble to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s murderous revanchism, Western leaders seem increasingly open to striking Faustian bargains with other authoritarian regimes.
Hence, on March 16, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — making him one of the few Western leaders to do so since the gruesome killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
With its focus on finding alternatives to Russian oil, Johnson’s trip resembled an earlier one by the U.S. National Security Council’s top Latin America official, Juan Gonzalez, who visited Venezuela to hold talks with Nicolas Maduro’s regime. The United States has also given its blessing to Turkey, a NATO member with a dismal democratic record, as that country mediates talks between Ukraine and Russia.
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