Donald Trump
Senate members Robert Menendez, Chris Murphy and Rand Paul wanted to prevent incumbent US President Donald Trump from selling arms to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is stated in a statement by the press service of Menendez.
The senators presented four initiatives according to which the Arab country will not be able to sell up to 50 F-35 fighters, 18 reconnaissance drones MQ-9B and other advanced weapons systems. Their total cost is $ 23 billion.
Senators said the State Department and the Pentagon declined to respond to inquiries about how the government would deal with the national security risks posed by such supplies. The politicians also noted that the sale of weapons to Abu Dhabi could violate the agreement with Israel.
“In an effort to expedite arms sales, the Trump administration bypassed the congressional review process [of the initiative] [during which they ascertain] whether a sale of this magnitude is in line with US values and the national security and security goals of our allies,” the text says.
At the same time, Reuters points out that the initiatives will not be able to interfere with the deals. In particular, the Senate, which is “controlled” by the Republicans, is unlikely to approve of the Senators' proposal.
In September, the heads of Israel, the UAE and Bahrain signed a peace agreement at the White House. According to the agreements concluded, Bahrain and the UAE will recognize Israel, while it will suspend the spread of sovereignty to Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
