Russia has supplied cars and other equipment to Syria for transporting and disposing of its chemical weapons, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday.
“From Dec 18-20, 75 vehicles, including 50 Kamaz (heavy cargo trucks) and 25 Urals (armoured vehicles), have been airlifted to Latakia airport,” Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin via video link, Xinhua reported.
Latakia is a port city located in Syria next to the Mediterranean Sea.
Russia has also sent 38 aircraft as well as water tanks, mobile kitchens and army tents for the purpose, the minister said.
Putin Dec 11 ordered the defence ministry to provide Syria with all necessary materials for removal and disposal of its chemical weapons.
According to a timeline approved by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the most toxic chemical substances will be transported out of Syria by the end of this year and destroyed on a special vessel at sea.
The rest will be shipped out for destruction no later than June 30, 2014.
In September, Damascus told the OPCW that it wanted to join the Chemical Weapons Convention and surrender its chemical weapons, development and manufacturing plants and storage areas.