US prepares to lift ban on offensive arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, the United States' largest arms customer, is angered by the restrictions, which freeze arms sales that previous U.S. administrations had granted for decades.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the United States and Saudi Arabia were close to concluding a set of agreements on nuclear energy, security and defense cooperation, the component bilateral of a broader normalization agreement with Riyadh and Israel.

However, the lifting of the ban on sales of offensive weapons is not directly linked to these negotiations, the FT said.

The White House and the Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.