Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – US President Joe Biden told Arab leaders on Saturday that Washington will remain fully engaged in the Middle East and not cede influence to other world powers.

“We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran,” Biden said during a regional security and bilateral relations summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The summit, the final stop of Biden’s Middle East tour, brought together the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.

Oman was represented by Sayyid Asaad bin Tarik al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs and Personal Representative of His Majesty the Sultan.

Biden had been looking to use the summit to discuss volatile oil prices and outline his vision for Washington’s role in the region.

Acknowledging Oman’s role in finding a solution to the Yemen crisis, he said, “We worked with Oman and Saudi Arabia to find a political solution in Yemen.”

He also stressed that his country’s interests are linked to successes in the Middle East. “The United States supports partnerships with countries that adopt an international system based on laws.” He added that America is committed to providing assistance to countries experiencing food crises.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud affirmed in his speech at the opening of the summit that the global economy is linked to the stability of energy prices and called for investment in clean energy.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el Sisi said that the Jeddah summit bears a clear indication of the renewed resolve for joint action between the Arab countries and the US. He called for concerted efforts to put an end to conflicts and wars in the region.

Sisi said, “An independent Palestinian state must be established as per the 1967 borders. Reviving a peace process is not enough, rather, a final and irreversible solution must be reached.”

Although US forces continue to target armed groups in the region and remain deployed in bases throughout the Middle East, Biden suggested that he was turning the page after Washington’s invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“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 under way,” he said.