Leaders from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have reportedly refused to take phone calls from President Joe Biden during the Ukraine crisis, after he snubbed them repeatedly during the first year of his administration.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the Saudis and Emiratis have refused to help Biden expand oil production to ease rising gas prices and make up for diminished Russian oil imports, and have cited a number of grievances with Biden.

The reported refusal of these key U.S. allies in the Arab world contradicts Biden’s repeated claim to have restored American diplomacy — “America is back!” — after what he claims were the dark and isolated years of the Trump administration.

As Breitbart News has reported, Biden repeatedly snubbed the Saudis and Emiratis, reacting to newfound Democratic Party outrage at human rights abuses by the Saudi regime, and punishing them for working closely with President Donald Trump.

In his first week in office, Biden suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE that were thought to be part of the background to both countries’ support for the Abraham Accords, a series of peace deals between Israel and Arab states.

Later, Biden reversed a Trump administration decision to offer an exemption to aluminum tariffs for the UAE.

In addition, Biden ended U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s role in the civil war in Yemen — a war started by Iran, which backed Houthi rebels against the country’s legitimate government. He also de-listed the Houthis as terrorists, despite their ongoing terrorism.

Moreover, Biden has doggedly pursued a renewed version of the Iran nuclear deal, which is strenuously opposed by Israel and the Sunni Arab states, because it would eventually allow Iran to emerge as a nuclear power when the deal terms expire.

Earlier this week, the purported terms of a new Iran deal were leaked, which critics say is far worse than the original deal. It reportedly offers the regime access to $90 billion in foreign currency, $7 billion in ransom for U.S. prisoners, and sanctions relief for some of the world’s most notorious terrorists.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

The White House unsuccessfully tried to arrange calls between President Biden and the de facto leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as the U.S. was working to build international support for Ukraine and contain a surge in oil prices, said Middle East and U.S. officials.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the U.A.E.’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan both declined U.S. requests to speak to Mr. Biden in recent weeks, the officials said, as Saudi and Emirati officials have become more vocal in recent weeks in their criticism of American policy in the Gulf.

…

The Saudis have signaled that their relationship with Washington has deteriorated under the Biden administration, and they want more support for their intervention in Yemen’s civil war, help with their own civilian nuclear program as Iran’s moves ahead, and legal immunity for Prince Mohammed in the U.S., Saudi officials said. The crown prince faces multiple lawsuits in the U.S., including over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

…

The Emiratis share Saudi concerns about the restrained U.S. response to recent missile strikes by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen against the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, officials said. Both governments are also concerned about the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, which doesn’t address other security concerns of theirs and has entered the final stages of negotiations in recent weeks.

The Biden Administration has been approaching hostile regimes — even the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela — in an effort to encourage them to increase oil production.

Biden has refused to reverse policies that restrict oil and gas production in the U.S., or to restore the Keystone XL pipeline, which he canceled.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.