Russia to Halt Arms Shipments to Syria

Looks like Russia is getting on board with the West. Are Assads days numbered? Why isnt Russia standing by their man anymore? I thought just a couple weeks ago Russia said they would sell arms to Syria whenever they chose? What an "about face" this is turning out to be. I see China hasnt said anything about it.

www.voanews.com...

"Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, the deputy chief of the Russian military and technical cooperation agency, said Monday that Russia will not sign any more arms deals, deliver any more weapons or ship any spare parts for weapons delivered earlier.

The United States and other world leaders have pushed Russia to stop helping Damascus crackdown on the opposition there."

Bad news. In a world already out-of-kilter, if the Russians quit counterbalancing the bad guys, the world is in serious trouble.

Interesting. Russia, China and Iran were all more or less behind Syria.
I especially wonder China's reaction to this.

If you think Russia is going to stop selling arms to Syria, you're a fool.

This is just a reaction to international pressure. It means nothing.

Russia says one thing and often does the opposite.

reply to post by princeofpeace
Looks like the party is over and the crowd is leaving the party scene before the house comes down. Russia sold the goodies and now it will not sell the spare parts (if needed)? That doesn't make any sense as why would they jeopardize their potential customers of the same scenario (should it ever occur in another country). Unless it made a backdoor/upfront deal and licensed them to manufacture the spares and/or purchase from another country though russian made parts, it is a bit confusing.

Part of me also believes that most of the hardware was indeed used to suppress the people of Syria and obviously the russians cannot deny the fact that the hardware supplied by them despite the opposition by the international community indeed has taken its toll of innocent lives. Nevertheless, the entire ME situation is getting interesting by the day.

If they stop it is most likely becuase they have concerns about getting paid. Assad is under increasing international pressure and it is likely difficult for his regime to 'do business'. If the regime falls (and it will one way or another) Russia could be left holding the bag.

Originally posted by FOXMULDER147
If you think Russia is going to stop selling arms to Syria, you're a fool.

I have been reading different reports about this. Some similarities. But many differences. It appears this is about36 fighter planes and new sales contracts. Some say it is a result of annan and assad coming to some middle ground.

Originally posted by jtma508
If they stop it is most likely becuase they have concerns about getting paid. Assad is under increasing international pressure and it is likely difficult for his regime to 'do business'. If the regime falls (and it will one way or another) Russia could be left holding the bag.

This is about as true as you can get. The regime will fall, to much of the military is changing sides. When it does Russia still wants that market so if they pull out now it might be early enough that the new regime will forgive them if offered some good deals. Russia also has to worry about ticking off all the other Arab states and losing that market as well. Syria is a costumer to Russia, nothing more. So long as a profit can be made supporting it they will, when it no longer looks to make a profit they walk away. That anyone though Russia would fight for Syria stills leaves me shaking my head.