Syria Today | Syria cements ties with Russia

Syria cements ties with Russia

The purchase of high-tech arms was the focus of a two-day visit to Russia by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad which concluded on August 22.

Assad’s visit to Russia comes in the wake of renewed tension between Russia and Israel stemming from the conflict in South Ossetia. Moscow has accused Israel of helping train and supply Georgia’s army.

Before attending a meeting with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on August 21, Assad told local Russian press he would like to revive a deal to import Russian Iskander ballistic missiles that have better targeting capabilities than Syria’s existing stock of Skud missiles.

“Of course military and technical cooperation is the main issue,” Assad was quoted as saying. “Weapons purchases are very important. I think we should speed it up. Moreover, the West and Israel continue to put pressure on Russia.”

Assad said Israel’s supply of military equipment and training to Georgia proved Moscow could no longer count on friendly relations with Tel Aviv. Russian concern about angering Israel should “no longer hinder our arms co-operation,” he said.

How far Russia is willing to go to accommodate Syria’s weapons requests remains to be seen. Following the meeting between the two presidents, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said: “We are prepared to consider a request on the new purchase of arms and are ready to deliver weapons of a defensive character that do not violate the strategic balance of power in the Middle East,” Russian news agencies reported.

Former Syrian information minister Mahdi Dakhallah said Israel had made a “deadly mistake” in supporting Georgia. “Syria has the right to strengthen its military potential in the face of this Israeli threat,” he said.

Damascus and Moscow have maintained strong economic and political relations since the Cold War Soviet era. Russia has long been the main weapons supplier to Syria, despite US and Israeli condemnation. In 2000 the volume of Syrian-Russian trade exchange stood at USD 166m and by 2007 it had reached USD 1bn, following the signing of a number of agreements in the fields of oil, gas, construction, transport, irrigation and tourism.

“Assad’s visit comes at a time when Russia is changing its views of the US and Israel,” Russia expert Taha Abdulwahid said. “For that reason Syrian-Russian relations will strengthen in all domains, particularly in political and military cooperation.”