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Saudi Arabia
Politics
Military and Security - USA Europe
Website, Middle East
"What is Saudi Arabia's position following Washington's warning against military dealing with Moscow?"
On August 31, the electronic Al-Khaleej Online daily newspaper carried the following report: "It seems that Saudi Arabia's implementation of its plan to enhance its relations with Russia to include military cooperation has angered Washington knowing that Al-Riyadh is one of the latter's main partners in the military field. The present developments underline a serious transformation in the relations between the two countries. Saudi Arabia had announced, months ago, its plan to engage in military cooperation with Moscow mainly via the Saudi Prince, Abdul Rahman Bin Musaid Bin Abdulaziz, the grandchild of Saudi Arabia's founding king, Abdulaziz al-Saud, who doesn’t occupy any official post but who is followed by millions of Saudi people on the social communication networks…

"The shift of the Saudi military cooperation compass from Washington to other capitals was larger than expected. Saudi Arabia had already signed military cooperation agreements with countries other than the United States such as France. This time, however, the agreement is signed with Russia, which is Washington's staunch enemy. Thus, on Monday, August 23, 2021, Saudi Arabia signed a military cooperation agreement with Russia during the visit of the Saudi deputy minister of defense, Prince Khalid Bin Salman, to the "Army 2021" technical and military forum in Moscow…

"However, the writer and researcher on political affairs, Yasser Abdulaziz, who spoke to Al-Khaleej Online, believes that Saudi Arabia's announcement regarding its agreement with Moscow to purchase Russian weapons "is a mere pressure card" that Al-Riyadh is using against Washington. Indeed, Saudi Arabia is the main importer of weapons from the United States… The weapon sales to Al-Riyadh constitute 24 percent of the US arms' exports as per a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. This massive number underlines the extent of the relationship and cooperation between Al-Riyadh and Washington, which makes the latter keen on preserving the high level of relations with Saudi Arabia.

"Washington's silence over the Saudi-Russian cooperation did not last for too long. On Friday, August 27, 2021, a firm American warning was voiced out indicating that the CAATSA sanctions might be imposed on Washington's partners who cooperate with Russia… The political researcher Yasser Abdulaziz says that…Al-Riyadh today has realized that Joe Biden is weak and that he is turning in Iran's direction and reiterating the Barack Obama experience that constituted one of the reasons for the tepid relations between Saudi Arabia and the USA… Thus Abdulaziz adds that Saudi Arabia decided to change direction and to seek military cooperation with Moscow as a kind of a warning to its old ally [i.e. the US]… Abdulaziz believes that some dire consequences could result if Washington was to apply the CAATSA act on Saudi Arabia… According to him, Al-Riyadh "must fix its situation once again and amend its positioning when it comes to its relationship with the Americans."
Co-Founder: Nicholas Noe
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