Britain and Gulf countries negotiating free-trade agreement
November 22, 2021, 6:44 am

Britain and Gulf countries negotiating free-trade agreement

Unloading cargo-Trade/Pixabay

The Investing reported according to Reuters, Britain's investment minister, Gerry Grimstone, said on Monday that Britain and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are negotiating a free-trade agreement.

Gulf Cooperation Council/Pixabay

According to the report, Grimstone said at a conference in Dubai that a deal will be concluded within 12 months.

A British government website showed that the GCC is already an important trading partner for Britain, with almost 22 billion pounds ($29.57 billion) of British exports and bilateral trade worth over 30 billion pounds in 2020.

Source: investing

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.