RUSSIA’S DOUBLE DEALING ON ARMS TO ASSAD REGIME LEAVES UK ISOLATED OVER SYRIA – THE INDEPENDENT
TERT.AM
09:20 ~U 20.02.13
Russia has been accused by Western diplomats of reneging on a pledge
to stop supplying arms to the Syrian regime.
The assurances made over a month ago were presented by British
officials as a sign that the Kremlin was distancing itself from
President Bashar al-Assad and his ruling coterie, The Independent
writes.
The flow of arms has, however, continued unhindered with the Russians
stressing that there was no United Nations prohibition on supplies and
it was simply fulfilling its contractual obligations. As well as air-
and naval-defence systems, the Kremlin may now be preparing to send
Yak-130 jets which can be fitted with missiles to carry out ground
attacks, according to American and European officials.
Russia’s state arms agency holds a $550m contract to supply 36 of the
Yaks, which are trainers but can also be used on combat missions. Last
year, a Russian-operated ship carrying helicopter gunships and
air-defence missiles was forced to turn back to Russia, after its
British insurers withdrew coverage. The aircraft were subsequently
sent through a different shipping company.
While the Assad regime continues to receive weapons, from Iran as
well as Russia, a British attempt to provide military aid to the
Syrian rebels failed at a European Union meeting in Brussels.
There was agreement, instead, on an amendment which would allow
more “non-lethal” assistance to the opposition. But the outcome
of the meeting in Brussels made it very clear that David Cameron’s
Government had been isolated in its efforts to strengthen militarily
the moderate revolutionary factions, who have been increasingly
sidelined by jihadist groups receiving arms and money from backers
in the Gulf states.
Russia has insisted that it is within its rights to keep arming
the regime as there are no UN resolutions prohibiting this. Anatoly
Isaikin, the director of Rosoboronexport, said: “In the absence of
[UN] sanctions, we are continuing to fulfil our contract obligations.
We are mostly shipping air-defence systems and repair equipment
intended for various branches of the military.”
However, it is the Syrian regime’s air defences, overhauled and
upgraded with Russian help, which have been a powerful deterrent
against the West declaring a “no-fly zone” of the type which, after
it became a bombing campaign, brought down Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
Western officials also claim that Moscow has refused to provide full
details of the contractual obligations they have to fulfil and there
is also evidence that the regime is getting further Russian arms
through third parties.
Critics point to the British proposal on arming the rebels as an
example of lack of clarity in the Western approach. The move had been
opposed from the outset by Germany and Scandinavian countries as well
as by Baroness Ashton, the British head of EU foreign affairs. “There
is no shortage of arms in Syria,” said Jean Asselborn, the Luxembourger
Foreign Minister.
The French, who had backed the UK position, have become more lukewarm
since the troops they sent to Mali found Western arms supplied
to Libyan rebels in the jihadist arsenal. Yesterday, the Hollande
government seemed satisfied with the agreement on non-lethal aid.
“Technical assistance and protection of civilians will be easier,”
said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
The Russians, on the other hand, insist that their opposition to UN
resolutions against the Assad regime, bitterly criticised by the US
and Britain, has not stopped the building of growing links with the
Syrian opposition.