Saudi Arabia Wants To Buy Weapons From Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) attends a meeting with Saudi Defence Minister Prince Mohammad Bin Salman at the Konstantin (Konstantinovsky) Palace in St. Petersburg. Grigory Dukor / Reuters

IBTimes: Saudi Arabia And Russia Military Teaming Up? Riyadh Wants Russian Weapons After Years Of Buying From The Pentagon

Saudi Arabia is looking to scale back its reliance on U.S. weapons and could turn to Russia as an alternative supplier, according to a Monday report from the Interfax news agency. However, the sheer scale of Riyadh’s defense relationship with the U.S. means that such a move could be more than a decade away.

"We forecast that military and technical cooperation between our countries in the foreseeable future will develop dynamically,” a Russian source told Interfax. “However, conclusion of major arms contracts in the nearest future is unlikely because Saudi Arabia oriented for many years towards purchasing firstly U.S. arms.”

WNU Editor: There was a time when I believed that Russian - Saudi cooperation (on even a minor level) would never happen in my lifetime .... and this was a sentiment that I am sure that many in the Russian foreign office probably felt 20 to 30 years ago. Times have changed .... and if Saudi Arabia starts to buy weapons from Russia .... it will be interpreted as a signal (by many in the Middle East and in Russia) that the U.S. - Saudi special relationship that has existed for 70 years is now over. From a  geopolitical perspective .... this shift .... if it occurs .... will be seismic.