MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is facing a ‘real war’ aimed at hampering the country’s legal deliveries of weapons to Syria, the head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation has said.
“A real war has been declared against us,” Alexander Fomin told Ekho Moskvy radio on Friday without specifying who has declared the war.
“The [Russian] ships are lured into ports and arrested there under various devised pretexts. When the ships are at sea, any insurance is canceled,” Fomin said adding that any attempts to deliver the contracted goods are being thwarted.
Russia earlier said it will continue selling weapons to Damascus observing both international law and bilateral obligations, while some western countries are pushing for an embargo on Russian arms supplies to Syria, the largest importer of Russian weapons in the Middle East.
Russia and the United States were involved in a diplomatic war of words last year over Moscow’s arms sales to Syria, after Washington accused Russia of supplying attack helicopters to the al-Assad regime.
Moscow denied those accusations, claiming it was merely returning equipment overhauled as part of long-standing contracts with Syria, which is locked in a bitter civil war between the government and Islamist rebels.