The United States is ready to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth over $100 billion, the international news agency Reuters reported.
The US proposal will be made public during Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia in May, A2 writes.
The package offered comes after former President Joe Biden's administration tried unsuccessfully to finalize a defense pact with Riyadh, as part of a broader agreement that envisioned Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.
Biden's proposal offered access to more advanced U.S. weaponry in exchange for a ban on Chinese arms purchases and restrictions on Beijing's investment in the country. Reuters could not determine whether the Trump administration's proposal included similar demands.
A US defense official told Reuters: "Our defense relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever under President Trump's leadership. Maintaining our security cooperation remains an important component of this partnership, and we will continue to work with Saudi Arabia to address their defense needs."
Many of the U.S. deals with Saudi Arabia have been in the works for some time, two of the sources said. For example, the kingdom first requested information about General Atomics drones in 2018, they said. Over the past 12 months, a deal for $20 billion of General Atomics’ MQ-9B Sea Guardian-style drones and other aircraft has come into focus, according to one of the sources.
Several defense company executives are considering traveling to the region as part of the delegation. The United States has long supplied Saudi Arabia with weapons. In 2017, Trump proposed roughly $110 billion in sales to the kingdom.
As of 2018, only $14.5 billion in sales had been initiated, and Congress began to question the deals in light of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (A2 Televizion)
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