Saudi Arabia's crown prince is visiting France on Thursday as he continues his first European trip since the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Türkiye, which caused international outrage four years ago.

Mohammed bin Salman will hold talks with French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris with the two men due to meet over a working dinner.

The crown prince, widely known by his initials MBS, signed investment deals in Greece earlier this week.

In October 2018, the dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi went into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to sign wedding papers but he never came back out.

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Khashoggi was murdered and his body dismembered inside the building.

His remains have never been found and the killing was reportedly ordered by bin Salman himself.

A UN investigation described Khashoggi's death as an "extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible".

Welcomed back 

But Western leaders have eased their diplomatic pressure on Saudi Arabia over the last year.

Riyadh is a key ally for France and the United States and the war in Ukraine has increased international uncertainty over energy supplies.

In 2021, Emmanuel Macron became the first western to meet Mohammed bin Salman since the Khashoggi killing when he travelled to Saudi Arabia for talks.

US President Joe Biden vowed during the 2020 US election campaign not to meet bin Salman and to treat Saudi Arabia as a 'pariah', but earlier this month greeted the crown prince with a fist bump during a meeting in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

On Thursday, Macron will hold talks again with the western ally in the context of a changing geopolitical energy situation following Russia's offensive in Ukraine.

The two men are also likely to discuss Iran's nuclear program.

In the context of the Middle East, this is the fourth meeting that Emmanuel Macron will hold in Paris with a regional leader in the last two weeks.

The UAE leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and the French president held talks and signed a diesel supply deal on July 18, the the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas met Macron on July 20, and the Egyptian leader Abdul Fattah al-Sisi paid a visit on July 22.

Cover photo: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) at the Maximos Mansion in Athens, Greece, July 26, 2022. Reuters/Louiza Vradi