The Saudi authorities paid the United States about $ 500 million in reimbursement of the costs of the transfer and deployment of American troops and military equipment in this country. This was announced on Thursday by CNN television spokeswoman Rebecca Rebarich.
She was again contacted for clarification of the words of President Donald Trump in an interview with Fox News, which was published on January 10. Trump then said that the United States has the opportunity to take compensation from Iraq for the construction of military bases and an embassy in Baghdad in the event of the withdrawal of American troops from this country. The head of the White House named military cooperation with Riyadh as an example of such an approach.
“We sent troops to Saudi Arabia, which paid us for this. They have already contributed $ 1 billion to the bank”, – the Head of state said.
“In accordance with the President’s [of the US] words of encouragement to increase the shareholding of partners, the Department of Defense is working with Saudi Arabia to share the costs of this placement, which is designed to strengthen regional security and dispel hostility with aggression. Saudi authorities agreed to help pay the cost of these actions and did down payment”, – Rebarich informed. According to her, the size of the first installment made in December 2019 amounted to about $ 500 million.
The Pentagon announced on October 11 last year that the United States was deploying the additional 3,000 troops, two fighter squadrons, an expeditionary wing, two Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems and a THAAD missile defense system to Saudi Arabia. This decision was made by the US administration after attacks on two enterprises of the Saudi national oil company Saudi Aramco were launched using unmanned aerial vehicles on the night of September 14. Representatives of the rebellious Yemeni movement Ansar Allah claimed responsibility for this attack.