Ahead of President Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia this week, the Biden administration is discussing the possible lifting of its ban on U.S. sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, four sources told Reuters in an exclusive item.
Any final decision is “expected to hinge on whether Riyadh makes progress toward ending the war in neighboring Yemen,” the four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
“Senior Saudi officials pressed their U.S. counterparts to scrap a policy of selling only defensive arms to its top Gulf partner in several meetings in Riyadh and Washington in recent months…The internal U.S. deliberations are informal and at an early stage, with no decision imminent, two sources said, and a U.S. official told Reuters there were no discussions on offensive weapons under way with the Saudis ‘at this time,’” according to the report.
President Biden’s trip comes at a vital time for the region, “and it will advance important American interests,” the President said in an op-ed published in the Washington Post this weekend.
“From the start, my aim was to reorient — but not rupture — relations with a country that’s been a strategic partner for 80 years. Today, Saudi Arabia has helped to restore unity among the six countries of Gulf Cooperation Council, has fully supported the truce in Yemen and is now working with my experts to help stabilize oil markets with other OPEC producers…
“As president, it is my job to keep our country strong and secure. 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. To do these things, we have to engage directly with countries that can impact those outcomes. Saudi Arabia is one of them, and when I meet with Saudi leaders on Friday, my aim will be to strengthen a strategic partnership going forward that’s based on mutual interests and responsibilities, while also holding true to fundamental American values.”
