Russia’s Permanent Representative to UN Vitaly Churkin: Russia has said that the Syrian opposition used chemical weapons to provoke armed invasion; Russia to continue send relief to Syrian population; President Putin has called for the additional deployme
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  • (DECEMBER -9-15)

    According to reports, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin has said that the Syrian opposition had used chemical weapons in order to provoke an armed invasion by Western countries. 1

    The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Russia will continue to send relief aid to Syria. The statement was made in the backdrop of two Russian Emergencies Ministry planes having delivered 35 tonnes of relief aid to Latakia on December 11. 2

    President Vladimir Putin has stated that prospective military formations of the Russian Armed Forces should be formed in 2014 with an emphasis on their deployment in the ‘Arctic direction’. 3

    Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Igor Lyakin-Frolov has said that Russia’s 201st military base in Tajikistan can be used if the situation in the Central Asian region aggravates after the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2014. 4

    According to reports, Russian and Israeli foreign ministers, during their meeting held in Moscow on December 9, have discussed Syria, Palestine, Iran’s nuclear program as well as bilateral economic cooperation. 5

    Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov has said that Russia and Ukraine have prepared a roadmap for restoring full-fledged cooperation. This includes cooperation in industrial, nuclear, aviation, gas and trade sectors. 6

    According to reports, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said that Russia is opposed to any kind of US interference in Ukraine’s domestic affairs which otherwise can have ‘very serious consequences’. 7
    Deputy Director of Foreign Ministry’s public relations Maria Zakharova has said that Russia has urged Washington to take a responsible position for the ‘purpose of keeping up positive dynamics at the talks between Iran and the Sextet of negotiating countries.’ 8

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif have held comprehensive talks in Tehran on December 11. Among the issues discussed included the need to intensify bilateral co-operation in trade, economic and humanitarian spheres and the two countries ‘interaction in all regional issues.” 9

    Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Iran ‘may positively influence the situation in Syria’ and observed that Russia will like to see Iran as a participant in Geneva II talks. 10

    In other developments, according to reports, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov has said that an agreement on easing the visa regime between Russia and the European Union is practically ready, but Brussels has been ‘dragging its feet’ on signing it. 11

    Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said that the creation of a Prompt Global Strike System (PGS) by the US will have a highly dangerous and destabilizing security impact. 12

    Russian Ground Troops have received more than 250 modernized T-72B3 tanks in 2013. The troops have also received more than 600 units of weapons and military hardware, including self-propelled howitzers Msta-SM, tactical missile systems Iskander, tactical air defence missile systems TOR-M2U, self-propelled anti-tank missile systems Khrizantema-SM and different communications vehicles. 13

    Reports noted that the World Bank has reduced the last September’s forecast of Russia’s economic growth rate from 1.8 to 1.3 per cent in 2013. Several factors including less than expected growth of the domestic demand and slowdown of investment and consumption growth rate are responsible for this reduction. The World Bank has forecasted that Russia’s economy will grow at the rate of 2.2 per cent in 2014 and 2.7 per cent in 2015. 14

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