Russia To Fulfill Current Syrian Defense Contracts, Will Not Sign New Agreements

Despite growing pressure from western nations demanding Russia to desist its arms flow to Syria, the former Soviet nation announced that it would fulfill its contracts with the Arab nation. Russia said on Wednesday that it will deliver air defence systems to Syria and had no plans to impose an arms embargo on its Soviet-era ally. "Russia has obligations before Syria relating to old contracts -- contracts that were signed in 2008 and were later followed by new ones on air defence systems," the Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation's deputy chief Vyacheslav Dzirkaln said. "They are being fulfilled and they will be fulfilled". Dzirkaln, however, made it clear that Russia will not sign any new contracts with Syria “at this stage” and that the “decision not to sign new contracts with Syria while the fighting continued in no way spelled a shift in policy or a decision by Moscow to comply with a Western arms embargo of Assad's regime”. In June, a Russian vessel transporting repaired attack helicopters and munitions was stopped by British officials while it was en route to Syria. The vessel was forced to return to its Arctic base in Russia after the mission was exposed by the US States Department and its British insurer ended up dropping cover. Dzirkaln vowed to complete this shipment and stressed that most outstanding contracts now concerned air defence systems that were meant to protect Syria's border in accordance with international rules.