Russia tells US no need for explanations on munitions ship
RUSSIA, which has been criticised for its sale of weapons to conflict-torn Syria, has no intention to justify its actions to the United States, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday.
Lavrov spoke after a Russian-operated ship carrying what a Cypriot official said was ammunition arrived in Syria last week from St. Petersburg after being held up in Cyprus. The United States said it had raised concerns about the ship, the Chariot, with Russia and with Cyprus.
“We don’t consider it necessary to explain ourselves or justify ourselves, because we are not violating any international agreements or any (UN) Security Council resolutions,” Lavrov told an annual news conference.
The US envoy to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said on Tuesday that the United States had “very grave concern about arms flows into Syria from any source.” She said it was unfortunate that there was no arms embargo against Syria, where the United Nations says more than 5,000 civilians have been killed in a 10-months crackdown on opposition to President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
Russia, which along with China blocked a UN Security Council resolution in October that threatened an arms embargo on Syria, says an embargo would cut of supplies to the government while enabling armed opponents to receive weapons illegally.
The Chariot was allowed to leave Limassol port last week. It then headed for Syria where it offloaded nearly 60 tonnes of weapons and other dangerous materiel at Tartus port, Turkish newspapers reported.
According to Turkish dailies Sabah and Hurriyet yesterday, the ship anchored off Iskenderun port in Turkey after offloading its “dangerous cargo” in Syria first.
According to a Turkish Foreign Ministry announcement, Turkey has briefed the US on the matter.
The Chariot, which set sail from St Petersburg on December 9, was carrying cargo from Russia’s state weapons exporter Rosoboronexport.sailing for Latakia port in Syria.
The ship was intercepted in Cyprus when due to rough seas, it anchored off Limassol for refuelling. External checks by the Cypriot authorities confirmed that it was carrying dangerous cargo. After securing guarantees from the ship’s owners that it would change its destination, the Cypriot authorities let the ship sail.
The government maintained it did not violate the EU arms embargo by letting the ship go.
Source: cyprus-mail.com
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