President Biden has halted U.S. weapons sales to foreign nations on a temporary basis to allow time for administrative assessments, Reuters reported Thursday.
A State Department official told the publication that the department is temporarily suspending foreign military sales as well as direct commercial sales agreements on U.S.-built weapons pending reviews by the incoming administration.
In January 2021, Reuters reported that the United Arab Emirates entered into an agreement with the U.S. to purchase $23 billion worth of Lockheed Martin-built F-35 aircraft and a maximum of 18 drones.
Equipment associated with the F-35 jets include technologies from General Atomics and Raytheon Technologies.
Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE’s ambassador to the U.S., said through the Embassy’s Twitter account that the nation will “work closely with the Biden administration “ on Middle East peace efforts.