* * * Debate Policy - Political Message Board Thread * * * -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Thread : Russia, After Netanyahu Visit, Backs Off Syria S-300 Missile Supplies Started at 05-11-2018 03:45 PM by Gunny Visit at http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?t=62909 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 1] Author : Gunny Date : 05-11-2018 03:45 PM Title : Russia, After Netanyahu Visit, Backs Off Syria S-300 Missile Supplies May 11, 2018 By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is not in talks with the Syrian government about supplying advanced S-300 ground-to-air missiles and does not think they are needed, the Izvestia daily cited a top Kremlin aide as saying on Friday, in an apparent U-turn by Moscow. The comments, by Vladimir Kozhin, an aide to President Vladimir Putin who oversees Russian military assistance to other countries, follow a visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, who has been lobbying Putin hard not to transfer the missiles. Russia last month hinted it would supply the weapons to President Bashar al-Assad, over Israeli objections, after Western military strikes on Syria. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strikes had removed any moral obligation Russia had to withhold the missiles and Russia’s Kommersant daily cited unnamed military sources as saying deliveries might begin imminently. But Kozhin’s comments, released so soon after Netanyahu’s Moscow talks with Putin, suggest the Israeli leader’s lobbying efforts have, for the time being, paid off. “For now, we’re not talking about any deliveries of new modern (air defense) systems,” Izvestia cited Kozhin as saying when asked about the possibility of supplying Syria with S-300s. The Syrian military already had “everything it needed,” Kozhin added. The Kremlin played down the idea that it had performed a U-turn on the missile question or that any decision was linked to Netanyahu’s visit (http://www.oann.com/russia-after-netanyahu-visit-backs-off-syria-s-300-missile-supplies/#). “Deliveries (of the S-300s) were never announced as such,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call, when asked about the matter. “But we did say after the (Western) strikes (on Syria) that of course Russia reserved the right to do anything it considered necessary.” The possibility of missile supplies to Assad along with its military foray into Syria itself has helped Moscow boost its Middle East clout. with Putin hosting everyone from Netanyahu to the presidents of Turkey and Iran and the Saudi king. ISRAELI LOBBYING Israel has made repeated efforts to persuade Moscow not to sell the S-300s to Syria, as it fears this would hinder its aerial capabilities against arms shipments to Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah. Israel has carried out scores of air strikes against suspected shipments. On Thursday, Israel said it had attacked nearly all of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory. S-300s could have significantly complicated the Israeli strikes. The missile system, originally developed by the Soviet military, but since modernized and available in several versions with significantly different capabilities, fires missiles from trucks and is designed to shoot down military aircraft and short and medium-range ballistic missiles. Though since been superseded by the more modern S-400 system, the S-300s are still regarded as highly potent and outstrip anything that the Syrian government currently has. Syria currently relies on a mixture of less advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft systems to defend its air space. Russian media on Friday were actively circulating a video released by the Israeli military which showed an Israeli missile destroying one such system — a Russian-made Pantsir S-1 air defense battery — on Thursday in Syria. (Additional reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Editing by Richard Balmforth) http://www.oann.com/russia-after-netanyahu-visit-backs-off-syria-s-300-missile-supplies/ Anyone get the idea Russia doesn't want any part of Israel? Russia wants Syria. Sooner or later, Putin is going to have to deal with the Hezbollah issue, and Assad allowing it be in his country IF he (Putin) wishes to maintain his little foothold in the ME via Syria. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 2] Author : Black Diamond Date : 05-11-2018 04:01 PM This could go back to trumps campaign idea... it could: Work with Russia to defeat terrorism. And I hate to go with the natural resources conspiracy but what about the pipeline that was planned to go through Syria that was going to threaten Russia's natural gas hegemony? I remember reading that about five years ago as being the reason Putin wanted control or influence in Syria. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 3] Author : Gunny Date : 05-11-2018 04:23 PM This could go back to trumps campaign idea... it could: Work with Russia to defeat terrorism. And I hate to go with the natural resources conspiracy but what about the pipeline that was planned to go through Syria that was going to threaten Russia's natural gas hegemony? I remember reading that about five years ago as being the reason Putin wanted control or influence in Syria.I don't know about his pipeline. Where is it going to go from and to? Strategically, Syria is a warm water port - something Russia does not have, and a foothold in the Med and Middle East - something Russia does not have. Unless he cuts a deal with Turkey, he's got no over land pipeline. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 4] Author : Black Diamond Date : 05-11-2018 04:26 PM I don't know about his pipeline. Where is it going to go from and to? Strategically, Syria is a warm water port - something Russia does not have, and a foothold in the Med and Middle East - something Russia does not have. Unless he cuts a deal with Turkey, he's got no over land pipeline. It's not his pipeline. It's someone else's that, if Assad is overthrown, the pipeline goes through Syria. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 5] Author : Black Diamond Date : 05-11-2018 04:28 PM Here's one. http://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/is-the-fight-over-a-gas-pipeline-fuelling-the-worlds-bloodiest-conflict/news-story/74efcba9554c10bd35e280b63a9afb74 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 6] Author : Gunny Date : 05-11-2018 04:32 PM It's not his pipeline. It's someone else's that, if Assad is overthrown, the pipeline goes through Syria.It's got to go from Syria somewhere. Syria is bordered on the south by Jordan, Israel and Iraq. If it starts in Syria and goes to Russia, it has to go through Turkey or Azerbaijan or Georgia to the north to reach Russia. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 7] Author : Black Diamond Date : 05-11-2018 04:33 PM It's got to go from Syria somewhere. Syria is bordered on the south by Jordan, Israel and Iraq. If it starts in Syria and goes to Russia, it has to go through Turkey or Azerbaijan or Georgia to the north to reach Russia. See above. The link has maps. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 8] Author : Gunny Date : 05-11-2018 05:02 PM See above. The link has maps.First, most obvious, glaring thing: Where does Iraq stand on this? It's position is not mentioned but either way, that pipeline has to run through Iraq to get to Syria. Why does it need to get to Syria? The pipeline could actually bypass Iraq, Turkey and Syria altogether if it's from Iran to Russia. I don't discount the plausibility of the theory, but militarily from a strategic stand point, mine makes more sense. However, if his plan is to ship from Iran via Syra and the Med, that is also something to consider. Currently, Russia has to ship overland or via the North Sea. But Russia's markets are all overland and it already has a pipeline to Europe. Good catch though. I hadn't seen anything on this pipeline BS. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 9] Author : Gunny Date : 05-11-2018 05:26 PM Here's the BIG thing to me. Right now, Putin has to bring his warships out from the North Sea. If an ever-so-grateful Assad allows him port usage in Syria, Russia has a warm water base in the Med. He can't go through the Black Sea - Sea of Marmara without Turkey's permission and Turkey has been total pricks about using it. To point out the importance of the Sea of Marmara, at one end is the Dardenelles. We know how THAT worked for Churchill. At least for now, Turkey is a NATO member. If Erdogan does not think Putin is a threat, he better re-think his dumbassness. Of course, Turks think they can beat anyone because they're stupid like that. Turkey sits right between Putin and where he wants to go. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Downloaded from Debate Policy - Political Message Board (http://www.debatepolicy.com) at 03-28-2024 10:28 AM.