“Perhaps the main reason for Riyadh’s growing relations with Moscow is to arouse American jealousy, which has been widely criticized by the Saudis in the Biden administration,” the Atlantic Council think tank said in a report referring to the signing of a military cooperation agreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
According to IRNA on Sunday, the Atlantic Council wrote: “Several Western and Arab media sources have reported that Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Deputy Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia, met with one of his Russian counterparts in Moscow on August 24 (September 2). The Seventh Annual International Military-Technical Assembly of the Arms Exhibition, hosted by Russia, has signed the “Military Cooperation Agreement”. But it is not clear exactly what was signed in the agreement.
Prince Khalid tweeted the same day that the agreement was aimed at “developing joint military cooperation between the two countries.” In another tweet, the Saudi Deputy Defense Minister wrote that he had met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss “ways to strengthen military and defense cooperation” between the two countries and to discuss “joint efforts to maintain stability and security in the region.” And “Common Challenges.”
But the Russian side has not yet provided information about the meeting. The Russian Defense Ministry’s news website, although referring to the meeting between Prince Khalid and Shoigu, only stated what the prince tweeted about it and did not provide details.
In fact, despite the vague descriptions of Saudi Arabia and Russia, the fact that they have signed a military cooperation agreement is significant. Saudi Arabia has long relied on security assistance to the United States and other Western governments. Therefore, the signing of this agreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia, whatever it is after the fall of the Washington-backed Afghan government and the emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, is a sign that Riyadh feels it can not rely entirely on Washington and has therefore turned to Moscow. .
In addition, while Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had close ties to the administration of former US President Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s administration has been critical of human rights issues, as well as Saudi Arabia’s dispute with Qatar and its war in Yemen. Has raised many.
So perhaps one of the signs of an agreement between Riyadh and Moscow is that Saudi Arabia wants to prove that not only will it not change its behavior at the behest of the Biden government, but there are other countries that Saudi Arabia can work with that are involved in changing behavior. They are not in Riyadh.
Finally, the signation of the Saudi-Russian military cooperation agreement may be an attempt by Riyadh to change Washington’s behavior. At a time when the Saudis and other Gulf Arabs fear that US commitment to them will diminish as US interest in the region diminishes, they are well aware that Russian-US relations are strained. So the Saudis’ calculations may be that their cooperation with Russia as Washington’s rival may increase US commitment and reduce its criticism of Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, the Saudis should be well aware that Russia can hardly replace the US role in the region, and the recent naval exercises of China, Iran and Russia in the Persian Gulf are just one example to prove this claim. Another example of Russian military cooperation with Iran is the cooperation between Moscow and Tehran and the sale of Russian weapons to Iran, which the Saudis and other Gulf Arabs find worrying. On the other hand, since Moscow is not undermining its strong ties with Tehran to the satisfaction of Riyadh, this may be the reason why Saudi Arabia maintains its relations with Russia within a certain range.
Therefore, it may be effective if Riyadh’s main goal in signing this security agreement with Moscow is to attract Washington’s attention. Because US arms manufacturers do not want to cede any share of Saudi Arabia’s lucrative market to Russian rivals. In fact, those in Washington who are largely concerned about the Middle East threat against the United States and its Israeli allies and Arabs in the Persian Gulf are arguing that whatever the Saudi Crown Prince’s crime, Saudi-US relations should remain the same. However, if, as media speculation shows, Riyadh buys Russian S-400 air defense missiles, Saudi-US relations could deteriorate, just like Washington-Ankara relations when buying the Russian S-400.
So perhaps Riyadh’s main goal is to arouse Washington’s jealousy and not to destroy relations with this longtime ally. However, Moscow is among those who will be pleased with the tension between Saudi Arabia and the United States.