Wall Street Journal: The Saudis started making ballistic missiles with the help of China

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Amid Russia's criticism Stoltenberg: NATO never promised not to expand After confirming at the beginning of the week that NATO is seeking serious discussions with Moscow, Jens Stoltenberg once again stated that the bloc "never pledged" not to expand, considering that this is not contained in any international agreement. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, in a statement to the German agency "Deb A", on Thursday, December 23, that "NATO never promised not to expand. Even in the founding treaty of our organization it is written that every European country She can be a member of the organization. "There are also documents from the 1970s and 1990s, including the Helsinki Final Act, the Paris Pact, the Basic Document of Russia and NATO, and many other treaties that clearly indicate that every country can freely determine its own destiny," Stoltenberg added. He continued: "This is the basic principle of European security that Russia has agreed upon. We cannot change that because of some statements, the allies deny making any such promises, and the former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev himself stated that the issue of NATO expansion to the east was not discussed before German reunification ". Wall Street Journal: The Saudis started making ballistic missiles with the help of China The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia has imported sensitive missile technology from the Chinese military and is manufacturing its ballistic missiles, citing Saudi advisers and officials familiar with US intelligence. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal quoted Saudi advisers and officials familiar with US intelligence that Saudi Arabia has imported sensitive missile technology from the Chinese military and is manufacturing its ballistic missiles. The newspaper said that the Saudi efforts are the latest in a series of moves by US allies in the Middle East to increase military cooperation with China, in a direction that has angered the Biden administration at a period of increasing hostility between Washington and Beijing. Saudi advisers and a well-informed US intelligence official said that the Saudi government had requested assistance from the Missile Branch of the Chinese People's Army, and that these talks had moved to the stage of actually obtaining equipment from the Chinese army. The United States has long refused to sell ballistic missiles to Riyadh due to concerns about their proliferation. But the kingdom acquired Dong Feng-3 missiles in the 1980s from China, and publicly displayed them in 2014. The advisers and the official said that the Chinese military also transferred multiple batches of Dongfeng-ready missiles from around 2018 to the spring of 2021. According to the newspaper, US intelligence agencies have raised concerns about the transfers, but the Biden administration has been reluctant to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia, its strategic partner in the region. One official familiar with US intelligence said the United States was preparing to impose sanctions on Chinese entities over missile transfers, but not on Saudi officials or institutions. A spokesman for the White House National Security Council declined to comment. Chinese officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It is possible that the Saudi regional conflict with Iran is the main impetus for the development of ballistic missile technology. Analysts suggest that the Saudi government likely wants to counter Iran's large arsenal of ballistic missiles. The developments in the Saudis' program come at a time when Middle Eastern countries fear that the United States is no longer ready to play a decisive role in the region, a sentiment that crystallized in the kingdom in 2019 when the Trump administration did not respond militarily to the attack on Saudi Arabia. It hit oil fields in an attack blamed on Iran. "There is a perception in Riyadh that the United States' commitment to their security is eroding," said Becca Wasser, a defense analyst at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank. There is an idea that the only way Saudi Arabia can protect itself is by relying on itself. Informed sources revealed to the American network CNN, Thursday, secret documents of the CIA, which showed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is actively working on the manufacture of its ballistic missiles with the help of China, and the network published pictures taken by satellites showing that the Kingdom started manufacturing ballistic missiles in at least one place, according to experts.

Amid Russia's criticism Stoltenberg: NATO never promised not to expand


After confirming at the beginning of the week that NATO is seeking serious discussions with Moscow, Jens Stoltenberg once again stated that the bloc "never pledged" not to expand, considering that this is not contained in any international agreement.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, in a statement to the German agency "Deb A", on Thursday, December 23, that "NATO never promised not to expand. Even in the founding treaty of our organization it is written that every European country She can be a member of the organization.

"There are also documents from the 1970s and 1990s, including the Helsinki Final Act, the Paris Pact, the Basic Document of Russia and NATO, and many other treaties that clearly indicate that every country can freely determine its own destiny," Stoltenberg added.

He continued: "This is the basic principle of European security that Russia has agreed upon. We cannot change that because of some statements, the allies deny making any such promises, and the former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev himself stated that the issue of NATO expansion to the east was not discussed before German reunification ".


Wall Street Journal: The Saudis started making ballistic missiles with the help of China


The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia has imported sensitive missile technology from the Chinese military and is manufacturing its ballistic missiles, citing Saudi advisers and officials familiar with US intelligence.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal quoted Saudi advisers and officials familiar with US intelligence that Saudi Arabia has imported sensitive missile technology from the Chinese military and is manufacturing its ballistic missiles.

The newspaper said that the Saudi efforts are the latest in a series of moves by US allies in the Middle East to increase military cooperation with China, in a direction that has angered the Biden administration at a period of increasing hostility between Washington and Beijing.

Saudi advisers and a well-informed US intelligence official said that the Saudi government had requested assistance from the Missile Branch of the Chinese People's Army, and that these talks had moved to the stage of actually obtaining equipment from the Chinese army.

The United States has long refused to sell ballistic missiles to Riyadh due to concerns about their proliferation. But the kingdom acquired Dong Feng-3 missiles in the 1980s from China, and publicly displayed them in 2014.

The advisers and the official said that the Chinese military also transferred multiple batches of Dongfeng-ready missiles from around 2018 to the spring of 2021.

According to the newspaper, US intelligence agencies have raised concerns about the transfers, but the Biden administration has been reluctant to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia, its strategic partner in the region.

One official familiar with US intelligence said the United States was preparing to impose sanctions on Chinese entities over missile transfers, but not on Saudi officials or institutions.

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council declined to comment. Chinese officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It is possible that the Saudi regional conflict with Iran is the main impetus for the development of ballistic missile technology. Analysts suggest that the Saudi government likely wants to counter Iran's large arsenal of ballistic missiles.

The developments in the Saudis' program come at a time when Middle Eastern countries fear that the United States is no longer ready to play a decisive role in the region, a sentiment that crystallized in the kingdom in 2019 when the Trump administration did not respond militarily to the attack on Saudi Arabia. It hit oil fields in an attack blamed on Iran.

"There is a perception in Riyadh that the United States' commitment to their security is eroding," said Becca Wasser, a defense analyst at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank. There is an idea that the only way Saudi Arabia can protect itself is by relying on itself.

Informed sources revealed to the American network CNN, Thursday, secret documents of the CIA, which showed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is actively working on the manufacture of its ballistic missiles with the help of China, and the network published pictures taken by satellites showing that the Kingdom started manufacturing ballistic missiles in at least one place, according to experts.
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