US, Russia In Dispute Over Syria Arms Supply
The Hula massacre is the result of foreign financial aid and arms deliveries to Syrian rebels, said Friday the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement. “The tragedy of Hula has shown what can happen from financial assistance, delivery of modern weapons smuggled to the rebels, the recruitment of mercenaries and advances in all sorts of extremists, “said the Russian ministry regretting that” some key players on the international stage are not ready to act in a logic and peaceful settlement. ”
On her part, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, visiting Norway, on Friday expressed concerns about the information on deliveries of Russian weapons to Syria. “We know that there have been regular arms sales, even during the past year from Russia to Syria. We also believe that the continuous supply of arms to the regime of Bashar al-Assad by Russia has strengthened,” Clinton said at a press conference in Oslo.
Syrian opposition sources on Thursday said that a ship carrying Russian weapons arrived last weekend in the Syrian port of Tartus, which hosts a Russian naval base. The U.S. then announced its agencies were collecting information on the ship and called Moscow to suspend supplies of weapons to the Syrian authorities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday during a press briefing in Berlin that Russia was not providing weapons to Syria because this could be used in a civil war.
