Saudi Arabia, which makes donations to Ukraine, on the other hand, is buying Russian air defence systems in a $2 billion deal, according to OCCRP.
One of the largest investigative journalism organizations in the world, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) found out that Russia sold Saudi Arabia a $2 billion Pantsir-S1M air defence system.
Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed in 2021 for the arms sale. The agreement was not public. The deal was before the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022, and the Western world’s sanctions started after Russia's attack to Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia, however, agreed to pay sanctioned Russian arms companies. Trade data shows that some equipment was delivered in 2023, the year after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The leaked documents show that the agreement will be valid until 2026, meaning Saudi Arabia will continue to do “business” with Russian companies. It also means that the sanctions imposed by the European Union, the U.S. and other countries are not Saudi Arabia’s consideration.
Ongoing cooperation on the contract would not violate any laws in Saudi Arabia, as the country has not sanctioned the Russian firms. However, Saudi individuals and entities risk getting slapped with U.S. sanctions if they do business with Russian defence companies.
Such sanctions become effective when they are not limited to the imposed country but to anyone who still has business with that imposed country. This is a secondary sanction imposed on people or companies.
The documents indicate that Saudi Arabia is not alone in breaching the sanction. OCCRP claims that China, India, Algeria and Egypt continue their arms sales with Russia.
The documents show that Saudi Arabia ordered 39 Pantsir-S1M air defence systems. The contract includes a 15,000-square-metre training centre in Jeddah and the construction of an assembly plant to produce Pantsir units and ammunition. There is no confirmed information about the assembly plant.
Saudi Arabia is one of the major operators of Patriot systems. Therefore, it is unknown whether the details of the U.S. system are compromised. According to leaked information, the Russian side requested to visit Saudi air defence facilities in 2022 and received that consent.
Saudi Arabia has voted for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and promised to provide Ukraine with $400 million in humanitarian aid.
Germany had imposed an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia following the Jamal Khashoggi murder. However, Germany lifted this decision after Saudi Arabia’s fight against the Houthis. In addition to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India—two of the world’s largest arms-importing countries—continue their arms trade with Russia. During the previous term, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump had overseen $12 billion in arms exports to Saudi Arabia. How this report will impact Saudi Arabia’s relations with Germany and the United States remains unclear.
Saudi Arabia Buys Weapon from Sanction-Imposed Russia
