Russia, Qatar Sign Military Coop Agreement, S-400 Missile System Export Likely

Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin Mohammad Al-Attiyah, the Minister of State for Defence of Qatar, signed a joint intergovernmental agreement on military technical cooperation on the sidelines of the Russian minister’s visit to Doha.

The representatives of Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the Qatari Defense Ministry signed a memorandum and a framework contract in the defense sector in the presence of Shoigu and his Qatari counterpart, the defense ministry in Moscow said.

Recently, Al-Attiyah had expressed interest in purchasing modern Russian technologies, especially the S-400 missile defence system recently sold to Iran and Turkey . "As far as our mutual cooperation is concerned, this is not just the purchase of air defence systems but also technologies. We would like to develop this industry and bring this technology to Qatar," local media quoted him as saying during ARMY 2017 International Military Technical Forum.

Between 2011 and 2015, Qatar was one of the largest importers of weaponry from the US, purchasing $22.9 billion worth in that period.

But the recent shift in the US-Qatar relationship began after Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar in June.

In the direct aftermath of the blockade, Saudi Arabia invited Trump to a counter-terrorism conference in Riyadh where they spoke of Qatar’s support for terrorists.