(JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia) — President Joe Biden on Friday, after a much-criticized meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said he had raised the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi with the de-facto Saudi leader.

“I raised it at the top of the meeting,” Biden said of the case of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist based in the U.S., “making it clear what I thought of it at the time, and what I think of it now.”

“I was straightforward and direct in discussing it. I made my new crystal clear. I said very straightforwardly, for an American president to be silent on an issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am,” he added.

Mohammed bin Salman’s response was that he was not personally responsible, Biden said. “I indicated I thought he was,” Biden continued about the 2018 killing at the Saudi embassy in Turkey that U.S. intelligence says the crown prince approved.

Before the meeting, Biden had declined to commit to raising Khashoggi’s murder and the Saudi record on human rights in general.

Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancee, previously described Biden’s decision to visit Saudi Arabia as “heartbreaking.” On Friday, she criticized Biden’s seemingly warm welcome with the crown prince, adding a photo of them fist bumping.

“What Jamal Khashoggi would tweet today,” Cengiz wrote on Twitter. “Hey @POTUS, Is this the accountability you promised for my murder? The blood of MBS’s next victim is on your hands.”

When asked about her statement, Biden said she was “sorry she feels that way” and continued to condemn Khashoggi’s killing as “outrageous.”

BREAKING: Pres. Biden says he raised murder of Jamal Khashoggi at top of meeting in Saudi Arabia: “I was straightforward and direct in discussing it. I made my view crystal clear…I’ll always stand up for our values.” https://t.co/o4hQ2HoBg4 pic.twitter.com/DaHI2Pv6B8

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 15, 2022

“The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake—it was shameful,” Washington Post Publisher and CEO Fred Ryan said in a statement. “It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.”

The meeting comes three years after Biden vowed, as a presidential candidate, to make the Saudis and MBS, as he’s known, a global “pariah.”

Nevertheless, Biden was given a warm reception on Friday in Jeddah as he sat across from the Saudi crown prince.

“Mr. President, welcome to Saudi Arabia,” said a smiling crown price, clearly delighted that Biden made the trip to his turf.

Mohammed bin Salman and members of the Saudi delegation appeared pleasant throughout their brief discussion, with the powerful Saudi leader appearing to nod as Biden spoke to him.

Before reporters were ushered out, they peppered the leaders, unsuccessfully, with questions, asking the crown prince if he would apologize to the Khashoggi’s family.

When one reporter asked Biden if Saudia Arabia is still a pariah state, a noticeable smirk was briefly spotted on Mohammed bin Salman’s face.

Biden, continuing his first visit to the Middle East as president, shared a fist bump with Mohammed bin Salman upon meeting him outside the Al Salam Royal Palace,, ahead of their highly-anticipated meeting despite criticism around the Saudi Arabia stop. The close-up photo of the moment was provided by the Saudis, who wanted it seen around the world.

Biden met, separately, with the prince’s father, King Salman.

Earlier, the president stepped off Air Force One in Jeddah and onto a lavender carpet — symbolic of blooming flowers in the Saudi Kingdom — shortly after 11 a.m. ET, descending the steps and greeted immediately by two individuals. He fist bumped the first greeter and shook hands with others. He then walked towards the “Beast” — the armored presidential limousine — stopping to greet a few other officials lined up for his arrival, accompanied by national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan pushed back again Friday on a reporter’s suggestion that Biden was “dancing around” whether he would directly address Khashoggi’s murder, despite the slain journalist’s fiancé saying the White House assured her his specific case would be raised.

“I think it’s wrong to say the president was dancing around it,” Sullivan said, ticking through Biden’s statement on the matter.

“First statement, he doesn’t describe the details of what he is going to raise in meetings, particularly before he’s had them, because he wants to go have those meetings. Second statement, he always raises issues of human rights, and this will be no different,” Sullivan said.

Although, as a presidential candidate, Biden vowed to make oil-rich Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state over Khashoggi’s murder, the rapprochement in U.S.-Saudi Arabia relations comes at a time when gas prices have skyrocketed as the West has attempted to boycott Russian oil, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, and as Biden faces calls to balance security interests with human rights concerns.

Biden has defended his trip to the oil-rich nation, writing in an op-ed for The Washington Post published ahead of his visit that “my aim was to reorient — but not rupture — relations with a country that’s been a strategic partner for 80 years.”

“As president, it is my job to keep our country strong and secure,” he wrote. “We have to counter Russia’s aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outcompete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world.”

But Sullivan on Friday ahead of the meeting downplayed any chance of an agreement from Saudi Arabia to increase oil production as a result of Biden’s meetings in the kingdom.

“I don’t think you should expect a particular announcement here bilaterally,” he told reporters on AF1. “We will discuss energy security at this meeting,” he said broadly, when asked if the public should expect an agreement.

Since taking office, Biden has spoken twice with King Salman, the crown prince’s father, who officially rules the country, but had dispatched Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to serve as his administration’s point of contact with the crown prince, in what was widely perceived as a snub to the powerful Saudi leader.

On Saturday, Biden plans to attend a summit of Arab leaders in Jeddah, a meeting that the crown prince will also attend, though it’s not yet clear how the two leaders will interact or engage there.

Biden noted in his op-ed he would be the first U.S. president to fly from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, describing it as a “small symbol” of the deepening ties between Israel and the Arab world.

ABC News’ Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Brittney Griner’s attorney presented new evidence on the fourth day of her trial in Russia, where the WNBA star has been detained for nearly five months.

The lawyer had a letter from an American doctor giving Griner permission to use cannabis to reduce chronic pain.

Griner was expected to testify but her testimony was delayed until July 26 at the request of her legal team so she can have more time to prepare.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was visiting Russia to play basketball in the off-season when she was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport after being accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country.

If convicted, Griner, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison and also has a right to an appeal.

Griner pleaded guilty on drug charges in court last week, saying that the vape cartridges containing hashish oil were in her luggage mistakenly.

Griner, who has been detained in Russia since Feb. 17, said she had no “intention” of breaking Russian law and did not mean to leave the cartridges in her bag.

Her legal team told ABC News in a statement last week that her “guilty” plea was recommended by her Russian attorneys.

“Brittney sets an example of being brave. She decided to take full responsibility for her actions as she knows that she is a role model for many people,” they said in the statement. “Considering the nature of her case, the insignificant amount of the substance and BG’s personality and history of positive contributions to global and Russian sport, the defense hopes that the plea will be considered by the court as a mitigating factor and there will be no severe sentence.”

Her trial, which is taking place in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow, began on July 1 as the U.S. government works to secure her release.

At the trial on Thursday, several Russian individuals testified as character witnesses about their experience with the Phoenix Mercury player, who also played in the WNBA offseason for UMMC, a Russian basketball club in the city of Yekaterinburg.

The first witness was Maxim Ryabkov, the director of UMMC. The second witness was team doctor Anatoly Galabin, who said that Griner never tested positive for doping while playing for the team. A third witness, Evgenia Belyakova, one of Griner’s Russian teammates, said that Griner was the leader of the team.

The U.S. government classified Griner’s case on May 3 as “wrongfully detained.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week that Griner’s guilty plea will have “no impact” on any of the negotiations to bring her home.

Calls to free Griner escalated following the release of U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed last month, who was freed from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange. Former Marine Paul Whelan has also been detained in Russia since 2019.

“We’re going to do everything that we can to bring home Brittney Griner safely, and to also make sure that we bring Paul Whelan back home, as well,” Jean-Pierre said.

ABC News’ Joseph Simonetti, Tanya Stukalova, Patrick Reevell and Henderson Hewes contributed to this report.

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