Vladimir Putin is ready to share his Triumph
As predicted by “Kommersant” on Thursday after talks between President Vladimir Putin and the king of Saudi Arabia Salman Ibn Abdel-Aziz al-Saud reached an agreement in principle for the purchase of Riyadh anti-aircraft missile systems s-400 “Triumph”. The two sides also signed a contract for the organization of production in Saudi Arabia Kalashnikovs, and also signed a Memorandum on purchase and localization of heavy flamethrower system TOS-1A, anti-tank missile complexes “Kornet-EM” and grenade launchers AGS-30. More exact parameters of the deal will be discussed at the meeting of the intergovernmental Commission on military technical cooperation scheduled for the end of October.
That Russia has prepared for the arrival of the Saudi monarch package of arms contracts worth over $3 billion, “Kommersant” reported the day before. On Thursday, the Minister of industry Denis Manturov, without disclosing details, has confirmed the fact of negotiations with Saudi Arabia for military-technical cooperation (MTC), and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin confirmed the interest of Riyadh to the anti-aircraft missile systems (WRU) s-400.
Following the meeting of heads of state, the General Director of “Rosoboronexport” Alexander Mikheyev, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi military-industrial company (Saudi Arabian Military Industries; SAMI) Ahmad al-Khatib in the presence of Messrs Putin and al-Saud signed a contract in the Kingdom of the production of AK103 Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition for them, as well as the Memorandum “on purchase and localization of production of military products”.
As reported on Thursday a Kommersant source familiar with the negotiations, the results of the summit of heads of state, the parties reached an agreement in principle on the acquisition of Riyadh anti-aircraft missile systems s-400 “Triumph”. The interlocutor of “Kommersant” claims that the exact parameters of the deal have yet to be discussed at the meeting of the intergovernmental Commission on military technical cooperation to be held in late October, but, according to him, the Saudi military can buy at least four divisions of Triumphs (about $2 billion).