Israel again increased pressure on Russia on the issue of arms supplies to Syria
In the course of negotiations held in Moscow, the delegation of the Knesset with the Russian parliamentarians and representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry touched upon the issue of arms supplies to Syria.
On this, as reported by "RIA News, ”Shaul Mofaz, head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told 12 in May.
At the talks, the talks were about deliveries of the Yakhont PKR, as well as the Pantsir-S1 ZRPK to Syria, where mass unrest is currently taking place.
According to S.Mofaz, “we believe that when deciding on the issue of such supplies, the general instability in the region as a whole and in Syria in particular, should be taken into account,” RIA Novosti reports.
As Sh.Mofaz stated, “Israel asked to reconsider the Russian policy in this area in the light of the indicated circumstances, and we very much hope that this will happen.”
According to TSAMTO, Israel took advantage of the unstable domestic political situation in Syria to once again raise the issue of Russia's refusal to implement a number of contracts with Syria for the supply of arms, which are of particular concern to Tel Aviv.
It should be noted that earlier, even in a stable situation in Syria, this issue was repeatedly raised. The main thesis of the Israeli side was that these weapons systems could fall into the hands of terrorist organizations.
In early September, the Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited Russia on an official visit to 2010. As a result of the negotiations, it was possible to conclude that Russia did not yield to Israeli pressure regarding the implementation of the contract for the supply of Syria with Yakont.
Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko then stated that Russia fully complies with all previously reached agreements in the sphere of military-technical cooperation with Syria.
During an official visit to the US in September 2010, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that Russia would fulfill a contract to supply Syria with missile systems with supersonic anti-ship missiles P-800 Yakhont.
According to A. Serdyukov, the contract with Syria was signed in 2007 year. He noted that he sees no reason to refuse this transaction.
In October, 2010 of the year during the insertion of Euronaval-2010, the first deputy general director of Rosoboronexport, Ivan Goncharenko, stated that Rosoboronexport will fulfill the contract for the delivery of the Bastion-P PBRK to Syria in time.
Syria is the largest importer of Russian weapons in the middle east. The importance of the Syrian arms market for Moscow is of particular importance due to the almost complete loss of the market of Iran and Libya due to UN Security Council sanctions.
To compensate for such a significant loss of Russia in the Middle East region is extremely difficult. One of the best options is to expand military-technical cooperation with Syria. The total projected volume of promising contracts with Syria is equivalent in value to purchases of Russian weapons by all other countries in the Middle East.
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