Moscow: Russia will not halt its arms exports
to Syria despite the escalating violence in the country as
there are no sanctions restricting its deliveries, a top
defence ministry official said on Thursday.
"As of today there are no restrictions on the delivery of
weapons and we must fulfill our obligations" said Deputy
Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov, quoted by Russian news
agencies. "And this is what we are doing."
Russia has repeatedly said that an embargo on arms
exports to Syria is a red line for Moscow that cannot be
crossed in any UN Security Council resolution on the violence.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had told
Australian television on Tuesday that Moscow was implementing
its "commercial contractual obligations" to Damascus but that
the arms it sold to Syria were "not used against
demonstrators".
PTI
