'A prudent first step': State Department reviewing UAE, Saudi arms sales
The administration has suspended major foreign arms sales in what the State Department characterized as a routine decision.
The Biden administration is reviewing billions of dollars in planned arms sales, including deals with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, that were pushed through by the Trump administration in its final months.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday declined to comment directly on the paused sales, but described such reviews as routine for any new administration.
“It is typical at the start of an administration to review any pending sales to make sure that what is being considered is something that advances our strategic objectives and advances our US foreign policy,” Blinken said in his first press briefing as America’s top diplomat.
The freeze, first reported by Bloomberg, is in keeping with President Joe Biden’s campaign promises to reevaluate US arms sales to the two Gulf allies. Blinken, when asked during the briefing, didn't say whether he believes an agreement with the UAE will move forward.
