US approves $3.5b missile sale to Saudi Arabia

The United States on Friday approved a $3.5 billion sale of missiles to Saudi Arabia, ahead of a visit to the kingdom by President Donald Trump.

The State Department said it notified Congress of the deal that will include Saudi Arabia's purchase of 1,000 medium-range air-to-air missiles.

The AIM-120 missiles, whose principal contractor is RTX Corp. in Arizona, are a mainstay of a number of militaries around the world.

The missiles are guided by active radar after fired by pilots.

Trump will visit Saudi Arabia followed by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on May 13 to 16 on the first foreign trip of his second term -- other than a brief trip to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.

Trump has boasted of securing major commercial deals from oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which has also been a key go-between for the US diplomacy on Russia and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's administration on Friday approved a deal with Ukraine for training and equipment on F-16 jets, whose delivery former president Joe Biden green-lighted following Russia's invasion.

The State Department said it notified Congress that it has given the nod for a $310.5 million sale to Ukraine that will include equipment and services to maintain the aircraft.

"The proposed sale will improve Ukraine's capability to meet current and future threats by ensuring its pilots are effectively trained and by increasing its interoperability with the United States," the State Department said in a statement.

The deal -- which Ukraine will pay for -- comes after Trump criticized the billions of dollars in military and economic support provided to Kyiv by Biden.

Trump's relationship with Ukraine has gradually improved, with the United States signing an agreement Wednesday for a joint fund on Kyiv's mineral wealth.

Ukraine received its first deliveries of F-16s in mid-2024 after two years of pushing Biden, who supported Kyiv but had been concerned that a lack of training would doom the fighter-jets.

Ukraine said last month that an F-16 pilot was killed in combat, the second loss on the planes since the delivery.

President Volodymyr Zelensky in March announced the delivery of a fresh batch of jets, without giving the exact number.