DUBAI, Sept 14 (Askume) – The UAE will not cooperate with the United States no matter who is elected to the White House in November, a senior government official said on Saturday.
According to a Askume report on Friday, several people familiar with the matter said that if Donald Trump is re-elected president, the United Arab EmiratesPlan to restart talks to buy F-35s and armed drones .
Trump signed a deal in the final days of his presidency to allow the purchase in 2021, but the UAE suspended talks later that year after it was unable to reach an agreement with the Biden administration.
The UAE has long been in need of state-of-the-art fighter jets equipped with stealth technology to evade the eyes of its enemies.
If the United States approves the transfer, the UAE will become the second Middle Eastern country after Israel to have F-35 fighter jets.
An Emirati official said on Saturday that the factors that led to the suspension of talks in 2021 have not changed and the government has no plans to resume negotiations.
“Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming US election, our position remains unchanged and we do not expect discussions on reactivating the F-35s in the near future,” a senior UAE official said in a statement to Askume.
“A reevaluation was made at that time due to technical requirements, sovereign operational constraints and cost/benefit analysis, and these considerations form the basis for our current position.”
The official did not comment on the possibility of new talks to purchase armed drones.
