Putin Makes Fun Of US Defense Technology After Attack On Saudi Arabia, Offers To 'Protect' Them

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Riyadh, at a press conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

And he took time out to comment on the recent Saudi oil attacks, poking fun at the US in the process.

Images courtesy: Reuters

Putin's remarks follow close on the heels of attacks over the weekend on two crucial Saudi oil processing facilities. The US has since accused Iran of being behind it, something Tehran denies. In President Donald Trump has said the US is "locked and loaded" to act.

At the conference, much to the visible delight of Iranian officials on stage and in the audience, Putin offered to help Saudi Arabia protect its people and infrastructure by selling them Russian-made air defense systems. That's of course not necessarily a legitimate offer, it's just another of Putin's subtle digs at the US.

"We are ready to help Saudi Arabia to protect their people," Putin said at the news conference. "And they need to make one clever decision as Iran did, buying our S-300, and as Mr. Erdo?an did by deciding to buy the most advanced S-400 Triumph air defense systems from Russia. These kinds of systems are capable of defending any kind of infrastructure in Saudi Arabia from any kind of attack."

Amazing ¡ª in a summit with two of Saudi Arabia¡¯s archrivals in the region, Putin says Riyadh should buy Russia air defense to protect its infrastructure against any attacks. All while the Iranian foreign minister & president are giggling. pic.twitter.com/s2nP0HHeYr

¡ª Hassan Hassan (@hxhassan) September 16, 2019

Putin has gained a reputation in the past for smugly taunting his adversaries in public forums, but this one clearly takes the cake. That's because there's a bit of history with those defense systems he's talking about.

The US has long-since opposed Russia's sale of the S-300 defense system to Iran, one that was originally signed in 2007. At the time, Russia had to avoid completing the transaction thanks to pressure from the US, and then later to remain in compliance with the UN's sanctions on Iran's nuclear program.

However, the S-300 surface-to-air missiles were supplied in 2016 as part of the signing of the Iran nuclear deal in 2016. And then, if you remember, Trump had the US unilaterally back out of it in 2016, casting everything down. Since then, the US has complained vociferously about Turkey's plans to buy Russia's newer S-400 defense system, instead urging them to buy the US-made Patriot missiles instead. They even went so far as to threaten Turkey, a NATO ally, with US sanctions.

Since then, Turkey went ahead with buying the missile defense system, and in response Trump blocked them from purchasing the US' F-35 jets

The whole thing has just come out looking like the US is full of bluster, something Putin made sure to point out with just a few choice words. And he has everything to be smug about too.

Russia, because it's willing to sell arms to countries that the US won't supply, is the world's largest arm's dealer, and has been for a while. They make about $15 billion in sales of weapons each year. If that was you, you might be smug about it too.