Report: Russia signs arms deal with Syria
A Russian news agency quotes a senior Russian official as saying Syria
will be supplied with warplanes, anti-tank weapons, and air defense systems.
Russia has signed deals with Syria under which it will sell it warplanes, anti-tank weapons and air defense systems, Itar-Tass news agency quoted a senior Russian arms trader as saying on Friday.
 | Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Syrian President Bashar Assad meeting in Damascus, May 11, 2010. |
| Photo by: AP |
Mikhail Dmitriyev, head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said Russia would supply Syria with MiG-29 fighters and truck-mounted Pantsir short-range surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery systems.
He did not specify the kind of anti-tank weapons.
The arms deal is likely to be watched with unease by the United States which imposed sanctions on Damascus for its support of militant groups and corruption.
Earlier this week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Syria - the first visit to Damascus by a Moscow ruler since the 1917 Bolshevik revolution - and oversaw talks on Russia's possible assistance in building a nuclear power plant in Syria.
While in Syria, Medvedev also paid a visit to Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said it was "deeply disappointed" that Medvedev met the leader of Hamas, which it said was "a terror organization in every way.
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