Contents tagged with Syria

  • Israel: Russian air defense systems will not protect Iranian forces in Syria

    Israel is convinced that it will be able to attack the Iranian forces in Syria even now that Iran’s partner, Russia, has transferred S-300 anti-air defense systems to Syria.

    In an interview with Voice of America’s Persian service in Jerusalem, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Michael Oren said that the Russian S-300 systems “will pose a problem, but one which can be overcome”.

    “Israel has been overcoming such problems since the day of its creation in 1948,” Oren observed, “We will overcome this, …

  • Germany to provide 100 million euro to Iraq and Syria

    The German government will provide 100 million euro for the restoration of Syria and Iraq by the end of current year.  These funds will be directed to the stabilization of regions recovered from the terrorist group Islamic State, as reported on Wednesday, October 17, in Berlin by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economic Cooperation.

    90 million euro from this sum will be given to Iraq. The remaining 10 million will go to the Syrian provinces of Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, …

  • Assad plans to visit the Crimea in 2019

    President of Syria Bashar al-Assad plans to visit the Crimea in April 2019 and is holding negotiations on the beginning of a commercial airline route between Syria and the Black Sea peninsula, TASS reported.

    Members of the Crimean Delegation visited Syria this week, including the Russian Prime Minister of the Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov. The Crimea is under Western sanctions imposed after Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.

    Russia has been Assad’s key ally in the seven-year Syrian conflict. …

  • Russia to begin air transit between Crimea and Syria

    Russian Prime Minister of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov, who is currently in Syria, announced that the possibility of air traffic between Syria and Crimea is being considered.

    “We are actively working on the matter of creating a joint Syrian-Crimean trade house, and in addition there is the matter of opening air traffic between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Crimea. We are prepared to offer the capabilities of all our enterprises to business owners from Syria, so that they can fully …

  • Turkey postpones joint patrols with Russia in Syrian Idlib

    Patrolling the demilitarized zone in the Syrian province of Idlib scheduled for October 15th was temporarily put on hold due to a request by the Turkish side, reports a RIA News source, familiar with the situation.

    “Turkey asked for more time and to postpone the start of joint patrols in Idlib. The Russian side was ready to start this morning,” said a source in the agency.

    According to the source, the Turkish side referred to safety concerns, which so far, they cannot fully guarantee.    

    “ …

  • Aksyonov plans to invite Assad to Crimea

    On Tuesday October 16, Russian Prime Minister of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov intends to invite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to visit the annexed peninsula during the fifth Yalta International Economic Forum which will be held in April 2019.

    Aksyonov revealed his intention during a session of the Syria-Crimea bilateral cooperation commission, TASS reports.

    “We have already had the opportunity to invite your colleagues from the government to the fifth Yalta International Economic Forum. We hope …

  • EU prepares to impose 'chemical' sanctions on Russia

    At today’s session in Luxembourg, the Council of the European Union intends to ratify a new sanction regime against the physical and legal entities responsible for the use and proliferation of chemical weapons. The new sanctions were proposed by the UK and France following the incidents in Syria and in Salisbury which Russia is held responsible for.

    The drafting of the new restrictions began at an EU summit at the end of July which was held directly after an extraordinary session of the …

  • Crimean authorities to discuss creation of joint shipping company with Syria

    A delegation from the Crimean government will visit Syria between October 15-16 to meet with Syrian officials in Damascus, Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Georgy Muradov told the Russian news outlet TASS.

    The delegation will include Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov, State Council Chairman Vladimir Konstantinov, Deputy Prime Minister Muradov, Federation Council member Olga Kovitidi, Minister of Industrial Policy Andrey Vasyuta, Minister of Resorts and Tourism Vadim Volchenko, and Minister …

  • Media: Russian S-300 systems in Syria to be operated by Iranian specialists

    The S-300 anti-air missile systems which Russia has sent to Syria will be operated by Iranian specialists, a source connected to US and Israeli intelligence told DEBKAfile.

    The Israeli military intelligence website notes that Russia was clearly planning to let Iranians operate the anti-air defense system all along, since it sent Syria S-300PMU-2 systems, exactly the same model which Iran received from Russia in 2016. Iranian operators are currently being transferred to Syria.

    Russia chose to …

  • Media: Israeli and US military specialists visit Ukraine to get acquainted with Russian-made S-300 missile systems

    A joint US-Israeli delegation secretly visited Ukraine to acquaint themselves with several specimens of important weaponry, including an S-300 anti-air defense system, Vietnamese news portal Soha News reports.

    According to the article, Ukrainian specialists explained to delegation members the tactical and technical characteristics of the S-300 in Ukraine’s possession, and suggested that American and Israeli fighter jets be sent to Ukraine in order to test the system’s capabilities.

    Responding …