Saudi Arabia Could Give U.S. Defense Tech to Russia After Oil Row, Senator Fears

Original report: Senator raises alarm Saudis could share US defense technology with Russia (The Guardian)

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Source: Daily Beast

SECRET WEAPON

Saudi Arabia Could Give U.S. Defense Tech to Russia After Oil Row, Senator Fears

Dan Ladden-Hall
News Correspondent
Published Oct. 17, 2022 5:29AM ET

A senior lawmaker has raised concerns that Saudi Arabia could give sensitive U.S defense technology to Russia after relations between the White House and Riyadh soured over oil. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)—a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee—spoke of his alarm at the possibility in an interview with The Guardian after energy cartel OPEC decided to cut oil production in a move seen in Washington, D.C., as the kingdom siding with Moscow in its war in Ukraine. Blumenthal said he would “dig deeper into the risk” in talks with Pentagon officials. “I want some reassurances that they are on top of it and if there are risks, I want to determine what can be done to mitigate those risks immediately,” he added. Blumenthal previously called for a year-long freeze on arms sales to Saudi Arabia citing a “national security imperative” to avoid giving sophisticated weapons systems to a “country that has aligned itself with an adversary.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/saudi-arabia-could-give-us-defense-tech-to-russia-after-oil-row-senator-richard-blumenthal-says

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Source: The Guardian

Senator raises alarm Saudis could share US defense technology with Russia

Richard Blumenthal to seek reassurances from Pentagon that ‘they are on top of’ risk of sharing information with Gulf state

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
@skirchy
Mon 17 Oct 2022 08.00 BST
Last modified on Mon 17 Oct 2022 11.00 BST

A senior Democratic lawmaker has raised alarms about the possibility that sensitive US defense technology could be shared with Russia by Saudi Arabia in the wake of the kingdom’s recent decision to side with Moscow over the interests of the US.

Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate armed services committee who has proposed a one-year freeze on weapons sales to Saudi following Opec+’s decision to cut oil production, said he would “dig deeper into the risk” in discussions with the Pentagon.

“I want some reassurances that they are on top of it and if there are risks, I want to determine what can be done to mitigate those risks immediately,” Blumenthal said in an interview with the Guardian.

The comments show the depth of the rift that has emerged between the Saudi monarchy and Democrats in Washington, who have reacted with fury against a recent decision by the Opec oil cartel to begin cutting oil production next month by 2m barrels a day.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global/2022/oct/17/senator-raises-alarm-saudis-could-share-us-defence-technology-with-russia