Russia has sent some of its
most modern battle tanks, moving forward with its plans on establishing a new
air base in Syria, the Pentagon said on Monday.
A Russian
‘intervention’ in Syria?
Russia has been actively
supporting President Assad since the beginning of the Syrian civil war,in
which at least 240,000 people were killed and millions displaced. Russia has
been providing both logistical and political support.Syria – or what
remains of it – is Russia’smain strategic foothold in the Middle East, an
asset Moscow wants to defend.
Since 2011, a swath of
country has fallen under the control of IS. Russia has been fearing the
spillover of Islamic State – with many of its citizensleaving to Syria
and Iraq to fight in the civil war – onto its own soil. Combating jihadi
fighters is a key priority on in itssecurity agenda. Kremlin continues to
believe that the fall of Assad’s regime will lead to further radicalization in
the Middle East and spillover of Islamic radicalism to the North Caucasus,
Russia and Central Asia.It is thus not a surprise that Russia is highly
interested in Assad’s regime staying in power.
In recent days and weeks,
Russia has increased its support for the regime and reportedly provided
advanced operational equipment and weaponry. Pentagon’s spokesperson,Jeff
Davis, told journalists on Monday:
We have seen movement of
people and things that would suggest the air base south of Latakia could be
used as a forward air operating base.
This move can further
complicate the US and coalition efforts to mount daily airstrike against
Islamic State militants.
Meanwhile, Russia has also
positioned half a dozen of tanks and other equipment to the Syrian airbase in
Latakia,
two US officials
told to Reuters news agency on
Monday. They addedthat the intentions of the Kremlin’s latest deployment
of heavy artillery is unclear. Moreover, one of the US officials, who spoke to
Reuters on condition of anonymity, said
seven Russian T-90 tanks
arrived in Latakia in the past few
days but had not been seen outside the airbase. The artillery was likely for
airfield defense, the source tells.
The latest consignment were
said to include
surveillance drones and other
advancedartillery.
But the US has not yet seen any fighter jets or attack
helicopters arrive, Davis told journalists. It is clear thatthe Kremlin
has stepped up its military assistance to Syria. Moscow has no intention of
withdrawing its support from Assad.
‘No additional
steps’
Although photographs,
reports and social media posts suggest that Russian soldiers are in Syria, the
Kremlin has
maintained that they are there as
advisers.
Pentagon’s
spokesperson has expressed his concerns that the Russian military activity
could conflict with the US-led coalition’s airstrikes against Islamic State.
He added that Washington would welcome Russian efforts in combating
militant Islamist, but the military assistance for Assad “are unhelpful and
risk adding greater instability to an already unstable situation.”
The US comments come just
days after the Syrian state media reported that two Russian cargo planes landed
with
80 tonnes of humanitarian aid.
The planes have reportedly
flown into Latakia on Saturday. Russian Defense Ministry spokespersonIgor
Konashenkov said the plane was carrying materials for setting up refugee camps.
The Kremlin has dismissed
any military built up, although Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
last week that Russia will send more help to Syria. In an interview on a
Russian television new program on September 14,
Lavrov said:
Russia is sending planes to
Syria with both military equipment in accordance with current contracts and
humanitarian aid. Russia is not taking any additional steps.
Russian officials have not
commented on the alleged arrival of military artillery in Syria. But the Syrian
ambassador to Moscow, Riad Haddad, denied on Monday that Moscow was conducting
a military build up in his country, calling news of a Russian troop presence a
‘lie’. He said Syria was receiving military equipment from its ally under the
defense contracts.
Growing suspicion in the
West
The US-based
intelligence-gathering company Statfor
published satellite imagery
last week of construction on the
Bassel al-Assad international airport in Latakia, Syria. According to the
company, this is evidence of the Russian military “establishing a base
operations” and preparing to deploy aircraft to Syria, if it has not already
done so.
Suspicions about Russia’s
activities in Syria are growing. Last week,
Bulgaria closed its airspace
at the US request to the
Russian flights, amid fears that Russia is boosting its military support to
Syria. The Bulgarian authorities suspected that theaircraft were not
carrying aid, as claimed by the Russians.Meanwhile, President Barack
Obama warned Russia that it was making a mistake by aiding Assad.
Nevertheless, efforts to
stop the flow of supplies have fallen short. Russia is ignoring warnings from
the United States and the West, flying its military assets through Iran.
“I don’t believe Western governments
are prepared to do very much to slow down or block the risky course the
Russians are going on,” said Andrew S. Weiss, a former Russia expert for the
Pentagon, Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace told New York Times.
The rise of Islamic State
over the past years has been a concern for both Russia and the West. However,
the US coalition to strike IS has come in spite of Assad, whose removal remains
a US foreign policy objective and a major point of contention withMoscow.
http://neurope.eu/article/russia-moves-to-syria/