Russia suspends arms delivery to Syria

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July 10, 2012

Russia will not deliver any new fighter planes or weapons to Syria while the situation there remains unresolved, Russian officials say.

“While the situation in Syria is unstable, there will be no new deliveries of arms there,” says Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, who is in charge of arms delivery.

Experts see the refusal to send more arms to Syria as the strongest move by Moscow to distance itself from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia is also set to abandon up to $4 billion of outstanding contracts, reports Reuters.

It should be added that Russia’s arms trade with Syria is completely legal. But still it has fuelled concerns that Moscow is supplying Assad with weapons that are being used against protesters taking part in an armed uprising against him.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that the arms his country delivers cannot be used in civil conflicts.

But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticizes Russian statements that the weapons are unrelated to the violence in Syria.

According to her, such words are “patently untrue” and Washington condemns Russian weapons shipment.

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