Are Russia and Syria in Missile Defense System Talks?
August 22nd, 2008
According to Syria’s state news agency, the answer is no. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is denying that he discussed acquiring a missile defense system with Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev.
But Reuters reports that Bashar al-Assad said his country “was ready to negotiate deployment of the surface-to-surface mid range missiles.” Although Russia has supplied Syria with weapons in the past, surface-to-surface missiles weren’t part of the exchanges (as far as we know). The U.S. definitely isn’t on Syria’s “friends” list, so it’s not a stretch to believe Syria and Russia are cooperating to arm themselves for a potential conflict with the U.S. and its allies, namely, Israel.
Despite possible negotiations between Syria and Russia, Israel wants to continue peace talks with the Muslim country. (Source)