Tag Archive for Russia

| November 25, 2012
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Iran, Syria and Russia Object Placement of NATO Missiles on Turkish-Syrian Border

Moscow, a heavy benefactor of Damascus joined Iran in opposing the deployment of the NATO Patriot missile battery,  which called the Turkish request “provocative.”

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Iran is doing everything it can to fight the placement of Patriot defense missiles along the Turkish-Syrian border. So is Syria, Iran’s beneficiary, backed by Russia, its other benefactor.

Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has requested deployment of the Patriot anti-missile defense system. Ankara has been looking for ways to beef up defenses along Turkey’s 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria.

The request came during talks over how best to prevent further spillover from the ever-intensifying civil war between the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| November 15, 2012
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Putin urges Jerusalem to avoid escalation

 

Russian President  Putin calls on Israel and Palestinians to ‘do everything to return situation to its normal course’

By: AFP

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinians to avoid escalating Gaza violence that has killed 15 Palestinians and three Israelis.

Calls for restraint. Putin Photo: AP

Vladimir Putin – Photo: AP

“The president of Russia called on the parties to exercise restraint and avoid the path of escalating violence, whose victims include civilians, and to do everything to return the situation to its normal course,” the Kremlin said following a telephone conversation between Putin and Netanyahu

Earlier, Russia strongly condemned Israel’s “disproportionate” use of force in air strikes on the Gaza Strip while calling on Palestinian terrorists to halt firing rockets at the Jewish state. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 9, 2012
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Moscow tells all concerned, keep Palestinians out of Syria’s fighting

Russia ‘deeply concerned’ about attempts by both sides in Syria to enlist & arm Palestinian refugees

By Reuters

 

Russia is “deeply concerned” by reports that each side in the Syrian conflict is enlisting and arming Palestinian refugees and said on Friday they should be kept out of the fighting.

Syria fighting – Photo: AFP

Syria hosts more than 500,000 Palestinian refugees, according to United Nations figures.

“We call for the participants of the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic to show restraint and do all possible for Palestinian refugees not to be dragged into the Syrian confrontation and for places of their residence not to become objects of hostility,” the Foreign Ministry said. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| September 29, 2012
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Acting on Russian intel, Report accuses Syrian forces murdered pilots of downed Turkey jet

Al Arabiya cites Syrian documents described how following Russian ‘guidance and information’, Assad’s forces seized & killed Turkish crew members 

 

The crew members of a Turkish fighter jet that crashed into the Mediterranean earlier this year survived the impact, only to be later killed by Syria forces following intelligence provided by Russia, the Al Arabiya network reported on Saturday, citing leaked confidential Syrian documents.

A Turkish Air Force F-4 war plane fires during a military exercise in Izmir, in this May 26, 2010.

A Turkish Air Force F-4 war plane fires during a military exercise in Izmir, in this May 26, 2010. – Photo by Reuters

Al Arabiya’s report came amid months of speculation concerning the June 22 incident, involved the suspected downing of Turkish F-4 reconnaissance jet. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| August 13, 2012
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Russia says the new U.S. sanctions on Iran are ‘overt blackmail,’

 

Russian Foreign Ministry says it supports sanctions by UN Security Council and called the U.S. measures a “crude contradiction of int’l law.”

By Reuters

 

Russia sharply criticized new U.S. sanctions against Iran on Monday, saying the measures to punish banks, insurance companies and shippers that help Iran sell its oil would harm Moscow’s ties with Washington if Russian firms are affected.

Iran’s Natanz reactor

Iran’s Natanz reactor – Photo by AP

Russia, which has long opposed sanctions beyond those approved by the UN Security Council to pressure Tehran over its nuclear program, called the measures “overt blackmail” and a “crude contradiction of international law.”

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 11, 2012
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Without a Trace

Russia may sell technology to cover up tracks made by Russian-produced ballistic missile launchers

Russia may sell a new technology to countries that utilizes Russian-produced ballistic missiles. According to Israeli assessments, the technology in question covers up tracks made by missile launchers from their hiding-place up to the launch point.

A Russian missile launcher

A Russian missile launcher

According to reports from foreign sources, Russia will soon equip all of its portable ballistic missile launchers with a system that covers up the traces left on the ground by the launcher’s wheels. These traces aid intelligence sensors, such as espionage satellites, to identify the hiding places of the missiles, which can destroy the missile in advance.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| June 8, 2012
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Syria atrocities to go on

Op-ed: Condemnations of Assad meaningless as long as China, Russia and Iran think he’s legitimate

 

The Russians have no problem telling the truth: They have no idea of the direction the Syrian crisis is heading to. In ongoing diplomatic contacts among Israel and senior Russian officials, the Russians admit that their policy is determined from one week to the next.

Houla massacre Photo: AP

Houla massacre - Photo: AP

In fact, they’re not alone. The Russian policy, which the Chinese share, is no different in essence than Europe’s and America’s policy towards Syria. In Mideastern terms we can say that both sides are making their decisions from one massacre to the next. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 20, 2012
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Russia: More Countries Now Favor Iran Attack

Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov says Russia is worried by “signals” of growing support for an attack on Iran.

Russia is concerned about a shift in the positions of some countries that now favor a military attack on Iran, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Sunday.

Iranian Warship, Suez Canal

Iranian Warship, Suez Canal - Reuters

“We [Russia] are concerned that the opportunity to try to solve the problem [in Iran] by military means is still real. We get signals, public and from private channels, that this option is now considered in some capitals as much more applicable to the situation than it was before,” Ryabkov said, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. Continue Reading »

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