Kerry to Russia: Arming Assad Will Hurt Peace and Israel
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The United States and Germany on Friday warned Russia that arming President Bashar Assad’s forces would hurt efforts to bring Syria’s warring parties together for peace talks.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking after talks with his German counterpart, Guido Westerwelle, said Russian plans to send a sophisticated air defense system to Assad also put Israel’s security at risk.
The United States and Russia are pressing for a peace conference in Geneva next month between Syria’s government and opposition. Westerwelle called on Assad to “stop the violence and come to the negotiating table” and told Russia that sending the S-300 missiles to Assad “is totally wrong.”
Earlier Friday, AFP quoted Russian newspapers as reporting that Russia is set to deliver a shipment of S-300 air defense missiles to Assad’s regime in 2014, rejecting claims that the missiles are already in the hands of the Syrian government.
Assad said in a television interview broadcast Thursday that Moscow had fulfilled some of its weapons contracts recently, but was vague on whether this included the advanced S-300 air defense systems. In excerpts of the same interview released earlier Thursday, Assad said Syria had already received the missiles.
Read more at Haaretz.com.
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
