Russia decides to halt sales of new weapons to Syria
Deputy chief of Russia's military says it will continue with current export contracts; Annan: talks with Assad were 'candid and constructive'
Russia on Monday signaled that it would not sign new weapons contracts with Syria until the situation there calms down.
The country will continue with previously agreed exports, but will not be selling new arms to Syria.
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Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy chief of the Russian military and technical cooperation agency, told Russian news agencies on the sidelines of the Farnborough air show southwest off London.
Did Russia supply the systems that downed the Turkish plane? (Photo: EPA)
Putting it in conflict with the West, the Russians have blocked the UN's Security Council from taking strong, punitive action against President Bashar Assad's regime and are seen as the country's key arms supplier. Syrian activists say that about 14,000 people have been killed in an uprising in the country since March 2011.
Russia has been providing Syria's army with spare parts and assistance in repairs of the weapons supplied earlier, Dzirkaln said. He insisted that Russia does not sell helicopters or fighter planes to Syria.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday said he welcomes the decision, but added that Britain "would like to see a halt of all deliveries of weaponry to a regime that has embarked on the killing of so many of its own people."
Annan and Assad in Syria (Photo: Reuters)
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last month issued a harsh reprimand to Russia, saying that Moscow "dramatically" escalated the crisis in Syria by sending attack helicopters there. The State Department acknowledged later that the helicopters were actually refurbished ones already owned by the Syrian regime.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Monday said that Russia is still committed to a peace plan by UN envoy Kofi Annan, saying that the Syrian government and opposition groups should be "forced" to start a dialogue.
Annan's six-point peace plan was to begin with a cease-fire in mid-April between government forces and rebels seeking to topple Assad, to be followed by political dialogue. But the truce never took hold, and almost 300 UN observers sent to monitor the cease-fire are now confined to their hotels because of the escalating violence.
Hague on Monday called on Russia to show "a strong commitment to secure the implementation and mandate the implementation of what Kofi Annan has put forward."
On Monday, Annan raised hopes of a revived peace effort in Syria, saying he has reached a framework with President Bashar Assad and would hold talks with rebel leaders. Annan was traveling to Damascus' key ally Iran later Monday for talks with leaders there.
