Russia to Sell Arms to Syria

In defiance of an international effort to end the violence which has continued to ravage Syria for 11 months, Rosoboronexport, the Russian state arms trader has reportedly contracted to sell Syrian Authorities 36 Yak-130 fighter jets. The Yak-130 is a “twin-engined combat trainer jet that can also be used to attack ground targets.”

If true, Russia would be entrenching it’s position against the desires international community by defying a E.U. embargo against the Syrian regime and repeatedly blocking the U.N. Security Council from following suit. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland called reports of the sale”quite concerning” and stated that “any country still trading weapons and arms with Syria needs to think twice.” Russia is not violating any international laws or agreements but has been “badly burned by Western-sponsored sanctions against selected Middle East regimes, which have cost Moscow some of its most lucrative customers.”

Russia has been a strong ally of Syria since soviet times, when the country was under the rule of Hafez Al-Assad, current President Bashar Al-Assad’s father. ”Russian leaders view Syria as our major ally in the Middle East, with whom we have good political, military, and economic ties,” said Alexander Golts, a military expert with the online newspaper Yezhednevny Zhurnal. According to Igor Kortchenko, head of the Center of Analysis of the Global Arms Trade, Russia is “expressing confidence that President Assad would manage to retain control of the situation.”

In 2010, Russia delivered 700 million worth of arms to Syria, making up “7% of Russia’s total of $10 billion in arms deliveries abroad.”  U.N sanctions would cost Russia 5 billion dollars. Human Rights Watch Deputy Executive Director Carrol Bogert warned that Russia was repeating “serious mistakes” of Western leaders that will lead to “tragic consequences.”  Human Rights Watch called the continued sale of arms to Syria “immoral” and “impermissible.”