In Geopolitics Today - Tuesday, December 7th
Saudi Arabia Requests More Patriot Missiles from the United States and Talks Take Place Between Biden & Putin
Saudi Arabia Requests More Patriot Missiles from the United States
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has reportedly made a plea to the United States and its allies requesting they provide more Patriot interceptor missiles amidst a growing shortage. The request comes as the Saudi-led coalition has initiated an offensive against rebel forces in Yemen, accelerating airstrikes in support of ground units advancing on the west coast as well as the province of Marib. At the same time, Saudi infrastructure at home is being threatened by drone and missile attacks.
The sudden sense of insecurity brought on by recent attacks on its capital and infrastructure elsewhere has led Saudi Arabia to request help from its Gulf and European allies, as well as from the US. Saudi Arabian vulnerabilities are being exposed at home as the capital Riyadh is said to have come under missile fire. The optics of Saudi dominance amidst an offensive in Yemen are already crumbling as the urgent request for over a hundred Patriot missile illustrates the pressure that Houthi rebels have been able to exert on the Kingdom’s defences. And with the United States repositioning its assets to other parts of the region, Saudi Arabia finds itself in desperate need of the same missiles which have long secured the Kingdom from missile and drone attacks.
In Yemen, Saudi-led forces launched a fierce offensive against the Houthis in the port city of Mocha, retaking several adjacent towns over the last two weeks. Cabinet of Yemen forces have led the offensive with the help of coalition airstrikes, and are said to have also made gains against rebel forces south of Marib province, thereby “reclaiming important and strategic positions,” according to a Saudi military spokesperson. In response to the recent drone and missile attacks on Saudi territory by rebel forces, the coalition said it had bombed multiple military targets in Sanaa. While the US used to provide logistical and intelligence support to the Saudi-led campaign, the Biden administration has publicly withdrawn support for Saudi-led offensive operations. Nevertheless, the administration has made clear it continues to support the kingdom’s defence, so the request for the Patriot missiles is likely to be accepted in Washington.
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Talks Take Place Between Biden & Putin
US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks which lasted for about two hours in what had been expected to be a highly consequential meeting amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Going into the discussions, both sides had made public their contrasting positions, with Russia demanding legal guarantees that NATO expansion eastward would cease, and the United States threatening harsh economic sanctions in case of a Russian offensive while stopping short of signalling direct US involvement if such an attack takes place. Now. according to the public statements released following the meeting, there were few commitments or concessions made between Biden and Putin regarding NATO.
During the video call, both presidents recalled the alliance between the two countries during World War II and expressed hope that the alliance itself could serve as an example for working together on today's realities. Putin and Biden highlighted that cooperation between Moscow and Washington is at an "unsatisfactory" level, and recognized that recent tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions have been particularly damaging in this regard. But regarding Ukraine, both seemingly stuck to their initial positions as neither committed to any NATO guarantees as was speculated. Biden reiterated that the US and its allies would respond with strong economic sanctions in the event of a military escalation. For his part, Putin proposed to the US president to formulate legally binding security assurances which would cease NATO expansion eastward.
Both prior to, and following, his call with Putin, Biden spoke with leaders from the UK, France, Germany and Italy to share details of the conversations, while US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden and Zelensky will talk about a potential diplomatic resolution with Russia. Another possible talking point in any negotiations between Russia and Washington could be the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. Moments after the meeting concluded, US House and Senate leaders released a compromise National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022 which dropped anti-Russian provisions present in a previous version of the bill. If the defence bill does pass, it will not include new sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and waive certain other sanctions which were previously a part of the bill. But publicly at least, the meeting on the whole has shown no indication of either side drastically changing their positions.
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