US, Saudi Arabia close to agreement on defense pact

The United States and Saudi Arabia are close to a final bilateral defense agreement after the US national security adviser made significant progress in talks with Saudi Arabia over the weekend, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, Reuters reports UNN.

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Kirby said that the two sides are "closer than ever" to a bilateral agreement that is now "almost final.

US and Saudi negotiators are seeking to finalize a bilateral agreement, which is expected to require official US guarantees to protect the kingdom, as well as Saudi access to more advanced US weapons in exchange for a halt to Chinese arms purchases and restrictions on Beijing's investments in the country.

The negotiators discussed the sale of F-35 fighter jets and other weapons to Saudi Arabia as part of the deal, a U.S. official said.

The potential sale of the F-35 to Saudi Arabia was not guaranteed for a number of reasons, but its inclusion in the discussion was important.

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Any deal must comply with a long-standing agreement with Israel that U.S. weapons sold in the region should not impair Israel's "qualitative military superiority," ensuring that U.S. weapons supplied to Israel are "superior in capability" to those sold to its neighbors.

The U.S. Senate and House Foreign Relations Committees, whose members have criticized the Kingdom's role in the deaths of civilians in Yemen, have the right to review and block arms sales through an informal review process.

The U.S.-Saudi security agreement is also expected to include the exchange of new technologies with Riyadh, including artificial intelligence.

When the deal is finalized, it will be part of a broader agreement presented to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to decide whether to make concessions to secure a deal that normalizes relations with Saudi Arabia.

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