Putin challenges Israel, says missile deal with Syria would still go

1/28/2005 5:23:00 PM GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the proposed sale of the anti-aircrafts missiles to Syria was still under discussion despite the United States and Israel's opposition.

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Putin said that Russia would never influence the regional balance in the Middle East but said that the missiles deal could be allowed for “defensive purposes”.

"While we're talking about supplies of weapons to countries in the region, such a supply should be understood in the light of supporting defensive capacities, as in Syria," he said.

"First of all, we understand and are committed to maintaining the balance of forces in the region. We understand our responsibilities. We have not taken
a single step to violate that balance and we will follow that pattern in the future,"

"Second of all, we won't bring to the region weapons that can be used by terrorists or that can be transferred to terrorists without controls."

The Russian President also said that the missiles deal was still under discussion "with all participants in the Middle East settlement, including frankly and openly with our Israeli partners."

Earlier this week, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Putin in Moscow and announced that any missile system would only be used for defensive purposes.

In a telephone conversation last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon demanded Putin not to finalize the missiles deal during Assad’s visit.

Israeli officials say that the new weapons could threaten the Jewish state in the occupied Palestinian territories if the arms fall into the hands of the Palestinian resistance fighters.

They also claim that the arms could be used by the Lebanese Hezbollah movement to attack Israeli aircrafts along its borders with Lebanon.