Russia Says End of European Arms Embargo on Syria Harms Hopes for Talks
By ELLEN BARRY and JAMES KANTER
The end of the arms embargo, which may allow new flows of weapons to
Syrian rebels, reflected double standards, a deputy foreign minister
said.
Maysun/European Pressphoto Agency
Free Syrian Army fighters battled government soldiers in the Old City of Aleppo in March.
By ELLEN BARRY and JAMES KANTER
MOSCOW — A senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday that the end of the
European Union’s arms embargo on Syria endangered the prospects for a
peace conference next month backed by Washington and Moscow.
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European Union foreign ministers failed on Monday to reach an agreement
to extend the embargo, opening the possibility of new flows of weapons
to Syrian rebel forces, though no European nation said it intended to
begin supplying lethal aid to the rebels immediately.
The Russian diplomat, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the
end of the embargo “is a reflection of ‘double standards’ and could
inflict direct damage to the prospects for convening the international
conference,” according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.
“You cannot declare the wish to stop the bloodshed, on one hand, and
continue to pump armaments into Syria, on the other hand,” Mr. Ryabkov
told journalists later, according to the Interfax news service.
He rejected the notion that Russia’s support for President Bashar
al-Assad of Syria constituted interference on behalf of one side in the
conflict, saying that Russia was selling arms to “legitimate
authorities.” He defended a plan to provide the Syrian government with
advanced S-300 air defense missiles, saying the missile batteries would
be a “stabilizing factor” that could deter a Western-led intervention.
“We consider that such steps will restrain some hotheads from the
possibility of giving this conflict, or from considering a scenario that
would give this conflict, an international character with the
participation of external forces,” he said.
Michael Mann, the spokesman for the European Union’s foreign policy
chief, Catherine Ashton, said that it was “important to note” that the
European Union’s declaration after its Monday meeting included a
statement that member nations “will not proceed at this stage with the
delivery of the equipment.”
He said the ministers will review their position before Aug. 1, after
consulting the United Nations on the progress of the American-Russian
initiative and on the engagement of the Syrian parties.
The ministers’ meetings on Monday, held in Brussels, were stormy.
Britain and France sought to end the embargo; France had hoped for broad
consensus, but the talks showed instead how deeply the European Union
nations are divided on the issue of arming Syrian rebels.
Austria, the Czech Republic and Sweden strongly opposed arms shipments.
They distrust large parts of the Syrian opposition and said they feared
that the weapons would end up in the hands of jihadist groups.
They also said that funneling arms to the opposition now, before the
planned peace conference in Geneva, would undermine the chances of a
deal with the Assad government. There were also fears that Russia would
feel freer to send more weapons.
The ministers did agree to continue economic sanctions against Syria.
But in the absence of an agreement on the arms embargo, it is set to
lapse after Friday, leaving the European nations to decide individually
what to do.
William Hague, Britain’s foreign secretary, emphasized on Tuesday that
Britain had not decided yet whether to supply weapons to Syrian rebels.
But he did not seek to disguise deep differences with Moscow. “Our
policy is decided by us in the United Kingdom, not by Russia or anybody
else,” he told the BBC.
“We don’t approve of Russia’s own supplies to the regime,” he said.
“Russia has blocked at the U.N. Council every attempt that we have made
so far to bring an end to this conflict so far, so we have found new
ways of working with them. But it doesn’t mean our policies or views are
identical.”
Mr. Hague added: “The long-term supply of weapons to the regime from
Russia and from other countries has not helped this situation, therefore
we do all have to think of the options we can pursue.”
Russia has been providing a range of weapons to the Syrian government,
despite international pressure — particularly from the United States and
Israel — to slow or halt such support. Israel carried out an airstrike
in January against trucks near Damascus that were reportedly
transporting SA-17 surface-to-air missiles that Russia had sold to
Syria; according to Israel, the weapons were being sent to Hezbollah,
the Lebanese Shiite militia, which backs the Assad government.
The more advanced S-300 missiles would present a formidable obstacle to
any effort to conduct air operations over Syria, like imposing a no-fly
zone. The Israeli defense minister, Moshe Yalon, noted on Tuesday that
“the shipments have not been sent on their way yet, " but, in comments
reported by The Associated Press, he warned that if S-300 missiles
reached Syria, “we will know what to do.”
Before Russia reacted on Tuesday to the developments in Brussels, Guy
Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and leader of the grouping
of centrist parties in the European Parliament, said that Britain and
France “should be congratulated on taking the lead.”
“The longer we leave the Syrian opposition to fend for themselves or
depend on support from Qatar and other Arab countries, the less
influence we can exert over the outcome, and the greater the risk they
will turn toward extremism,” he said.
But Anna MacDonald of Oxfam, an international aid organization based in
Britain, said she was disappointed that the embargo was lapsing and at
the lack of European unity on the issue. “Ministers sent out mixed
signals,” she said. “What was needed was an unequivocal stance that the
E.U. will do everything it can to stop the bloodshed and prevent a
deadly arms race in Syria, which would have devastating humanitarian
consequences.”
Secretary of State John Kerry and Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign
minister, met in Paris on Monday evening to try to lay the groundwork
for talks that would bring together representatives of Mr. Assad’s
government and the Syrian opposition. The Assad government has indicated
that it was prepared to attend, but the Syrian opposition is still
picking new leaders and has not decided whether to take part.
Mr. Kerry said additional meetings between American and Russian
officials would be held to work out “how this conference can best be
prepared for the possibilities of success, not failure.”
“Both of us, Russia and the United States, are deeply committed, remain
committed, to trying to implement the Geneva 1 principles, which require
a transitional government by mutual consent that has full executive
authority, in order to allow the people of Syria to decide the future of
Syria,” Mr. Kerry said.
The expectation is that the meeting will be held by mid-June.
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