NATO 'ready to welcome' Saudi Arabia and Oman to regional security pact

A senior NATO official said the security body is prepared to welcome Saudi Arabia and Oman into its co-operation initiative with Gulf countries, according to UAE-based The National.

The official said NATO's "doors are open" to Saudi Arabia and Oman, the only two Gulf states yet to join an initiative launched by the military alliance during a 2004 summit in Istanbul.

The UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar - which has faced a blockade by most of its GCC neighbours since June 2017 - are already members of the Istanbul Co-operation Initiative.

"Whenever they are ready, we will be ready to welcome them. We cannot go further than that," the official told The National.

The UAE daily said that Riyadh is rumoured to have shown interest in joining the military alliance, which focuses on regional security co-operation.

Oman, however, is known for its strict policy of neutrality in strategic matters and has maintained a safe distance between all regional conflicts, opting instead to take a mediatory role wars such as Yemen.

The report came on the back of a NATO summit in Brussels, which saw US President Donald Trump slam European allies - in particular Germany - for failing to meet their defence spending commitments before shortly praising the alliance for agreeing to boost funding.