President al-Assad to visit Russia Monday at the invitation of President Yeltsin
Syria-Russia, Politics, 4/9/1999

At the invitation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, President Hafez al-Assad will hold an official visit to Moscow on April 12 and 13. The Russian ambassador in Damascus has asserted that his country pays special interest to this visit.

In a press conference he held in Damascus on Thursday on the occasion of President Hafez al-Assad's visit to Russia, the Russian ambassador said this visit would help in strengthening and developing friendship and cooperation relations between the two countries in various fields and will promote the Middle East peace process.

He added that talks between the two presidents will also deal with several topics pertaining to bilateral relations between Russia and Syria, the Middle East peace process, the current situation in the Middle East and issues of mutual concern. The Russian ambassador indicated the similar positions held by Russia and Syria toward most international issues, especially in the Middle East and the peace process.

He noted that Russian technical military cooperation is not subject to any international sanctions and is not in contradiction with the rules monitoring exports nor the balance of power in the Middle East region. He asserted that these Russian arms exports are not comparable to the specifications and standards of the military weapons and equipment exported by the US to Israel, especially most advanced US warplanes.

The Russian ambassador criticized the US decision to impose sanctions on three Russian companies under the pretext of exporting military equipment to Syria. He said: "Once again the US administration tries, through its current actions, to replace the international laws and regulations with US internal laws and once again ignores principles of the international policy and at the same time practices the double standard policy."

He stressed that imposing sanctions on the three Russian companies is considered illegal in regard to international law and constitutes another blow to the Russian-US relations, which are facing problems as a result of the US and NATO forces against Yugoslavia, a sovereign international country.

The Russian ambassador added that the US measure in imposing sanctions on the three Russian companies indicated the unfriendly US attitude towards Syria and unilaterally (by the side of the US) questions the right of Syria, a sovereign state, to defend itself, noting that such a US position would not help in maintaining progress in the Middle East peace process.

The Russian ambassador continued that the Russian Foreign Ministry on April 4 issued a statement on the imposition of the US sanctions against the three Russian companies, in which it expressed Russia's protest against this new position against it, adding that Russia preserves to itself its right to take necessary reactions in this regard. On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stressed that President al-Assad's visit to Moscow is very important for bilateral relations.

In a press conference he held in Moscow, the Russian FM expressed his belief that the development of relations between Syria and Russian is a matter of great importance for the two countries and peoples and the Middle East peace process as a whole. Ivanov stressed that there are no changes in the program of President Hafez al-Assad's visit and the context of the Russian-Syrian talks.

Previous Stories:
  Damascus hails Russia's refusal to the USA pressures for delaying selling advanced weapons to Syria   (4/5/1999)
  On President al-Assad's visit to Russia   (4/3/1999)
  US sanctions Russian firms over Syrian weapons sales   (4/3/1999)
  Al-Assad due to visit Moscow in mid-April   (3/31/1999)

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