US ‘will not walk away’ from Middle East: Biden at Saudi summit

msn.com:  US President Joe Biden, who is on a visit to Saudi Arabia, said the United States "will not walk away" from the Middle East and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran, media reports said.

While meeting Arab leaders at the Saudi summit, Biden laid out his strategy for the Middle East. Notably, this is the final leg of Biden's four-day trip which is meant to bolster ties in the region.

The summit took place in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea city of Jeddah on Saturday where Biden spoke extensively of the importance Washington pays to the region.

Leaders of six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates - plus Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq are holding talks on regional security and bilateral relations with the United States at the summit, reported Al Jazeera.

"We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran," Biden said adding "We will seek to build on this moment with active, principled, American leadership." "Today, I am proud to be able to say that the eras of land wars in the region, wars that involved huge numbers of American forces, is not underway," he said.

Biden urged his counterparts to ensure human rights, including women's rights, and allow their citizens to speak openly. "The future will be won by the countries that unleash the full potential of their populations," he said, including allowing people to "question and criticise leaders without fear of reprisal." Earlier on Saturday morning, the US president held individual meetings with the leaders of Iraq, Egypt and the UAE, as per the media portal.