fergalator
22-08-2008, Fri 6:16 PM
Moscow is downplaying the possibility of an arms deal to put Russian missiles on Syrian soil, in response to Israeli concerns over the destabilizing effect such a sale would have on the Middle East. The Los Angeles Times reports that the specter of Russian missile sales to Syria raised a "mini-storm of concern" in Israel, though Russian officials indicated a sale was far from imminent.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country was "ready to consider requests from the Syrian side" on buying more arms. But Lavrov added, "We are indeed prepared to sell only defensive weapons which do not violate the regional balance of power."
Anatoly Yurkov, Russia's acting ambassador to Israel, was even more direct. "Why in the world would we need to deploy our missiles [in Syria]? Against whom? We have no enemies in the region," Yurkov told the Israeli news site Ynet.
Moscow's comments come after Syrian President Bashir Assad, ahead of a diplomatic summit in Russia, expressed his country's continued interest in purchasing Russian weapons, according to Haaretz.
...Russian media on Thursday quoted Assad as saying ahead of a two day visit to Moscow that Syria was ready to negotiate hosting Russian surface-to-surface Iskander missiles on its soil, which Moscow says are capable of penetrating any missile defense.
Syria is interested in purchasing Russia's Pantsyr-S1 air defense missile system, the BUK-M1 surface-to-air medium-range missile system, military aircraft and other hardware, the Russian news agency Interfax quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
According to Russian media, Assad offered to host the Russian missiles as a response to a deal signed by Washington and Warsaw this week to deploy elements of a U.S. missile defense system in Poland, which has aggravated Moscow's relations with the West.
Mr. Assad also said that Syria supported Russia in its recent war in Georgia, which was the flashpoint for the current tensions between Moscow and Washington.
denied that it sought to buy Russian missilesFinancial Timesmain topic of discussion"should no longer hinder our arms cooperation,"Agence-France PresseBBCIsraeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warnedYNet Newsindirect peace talks between Syria and Israel will continue
"Israel will continue with the talks, and the fifth round of negotiations is scheduled to begin soon," one official said. "Assad looked to purchase arms from Russia even before his current trip to Moscow; we strongly oppose such a move, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made this abundantly clear during his phone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday."
The Jerusalem Post reports that diplomatic relations between Russia and Israel also have largely been unaffected by the potential arms deal. Nonetheless, the Post writes, at least some Israeli officials remain concerned, despite Mr. Lavrov's statement that Russia would only consider selling Syria "defensive" weapons.
... one diplomatic source said he was concerned by Lavrov's statements on Thursday that more arm sales to Damascus would be considered. One could consider it a positive that Russia had stated that it was sticking to the defensive-armaments-only line, the source said.
On the other hand, the word "defensive" is vague and it was possible to strengthen Syria by simply upgrading the types of defensive weapons that were offered. This, the source said, would not be good for Israel.
But Russia may still hesitate to offend Israel by selling weapons to Syria, reports the Financial Times. Earlier this year at Russia's request, Israel declined to sell armored tanks to Georgia, and Russia may feel that it should respond in kind, Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian defence analyst, told the Times. "Israel did us a favour so I would be surprised if Assad got what he wanted."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0822/p99s01-wome.html
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country was "ready to consider requests from the Syrian side" on buying more arms. But Lavrov added, "We are indeed prepared to sell only defensive weapons which do not violate the regional balance of power."
Anatoly Yurkov, Russia's acting ambassador to Israel, was even more direct. "Why in the world would we need to deploy our missiles [in Syria]? Against whom? We have no enemies in the region," Yurkov told the Israeli news site Ynet.
Moscow's comments come after Syrian President Bashir Assad, ahead of a diplomatic summit in Russia, expressed his country's continued interest in purchasing Russian weapons, according to Haaretz.
...Russian media on Thursday quoted Assad as saying ahead of a two day visit to Moscow that Syria was ready to negotiate hosting Russian surface-to-surface Iskander missiles on its soil, which Moscow says are capable of penetrating any missile defense.
Syria is interested in purchasing Russia's Pantsyr-S1 air defense missile system, the BUK-M1 surface-to-air medium-range missile system, military aircraft and other hardware, the Russian news agency Interfax quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
According to Russian media, Assad offered to host the Russian missiles as a response to a deal signed by Washington and Warsaw this week to deploy elements of a U.S. missile defense system in Poland, which has aggravated Moscow's relations with the West.
Mr. Assad also said that Syria supported Russia in its recent war in Georgia, which was the flashpoint for the current tensions between Moscow and Washington.
denied that it sought to buy Russian missilesFinancial Timesmain topic of discussion"should no longer hinder our arms cooperation,"Agence-France PresseBBCIsraeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warnedYNet Newsindirect peace talks between Syria and Israel will continue
"Israel will continue with the talks, and the fifth round of negotiations is scheduled to begin soon," one official said. "Assad looked to purchase arms from Russia even before his current trip to Moscow; we strongly oppose such a move, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made this abundantly clear during his phone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday."
The Jerusalem Post reports that diplomatic relations between Russia and Israel also have largely been unaffected by the potential arms deal. Nonetheless, the Post writes, at least some Israeli officials remain concerned, despite Mr. Lavrov's statement that Russia would only consider selling Syria "defensive" weapons.
... one diplomatic source said he was concerned by Lavrov's statements on Thursday that more arm sales to Damascus would be considered. One could consider it a positive that Russia had stated that it was sticking to the defensive-armaments-only line, the source said.
On the other hand, the word "defensive" is vague and it was possible to strengthen Syria by simply upgrading the types of defensive weapons that were offered. This, the source said, would not be good for Israel.
But Russia may still hesitate to offend Israel by selling weapons to Syria, reports the Financial Times. Earlier this year at Russia's request, Israel declined to sell armored tanks to Georgia, and Russia may feel that it should respond in kind, Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian defence analyst, told the Times. "Israel did us a favour so I would be surprised if Assad got what he wanted."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0822/p99s01-wome.html