Israel is determined to continue the indirect peace negotiations with Syria despite its possible arms deals with Russia, local news service Ynet on Friday quoted an Israeli official as saying.
"Israel will continue with the talks, and the fifth round of negotiations is scheduled to begin soon," said an unnamed official, when commenting on the recent trip by Syrian President Bashar Assad to Russia.
Israeli media reported that Assad used this trip to explore the possibility of purchasing advanced weaponry from Russia and offered Moscow to deploy missiles on Syrian soil to counter Washington's plan to place part of a missile defense system in Poland.
"We strongly oppose such a move, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made this abundantly clear during his phone conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday," the official was quoted as saying, adding that Olmert told Medvedev that selling advanced weapons to Syria would disrupt the security balance in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, noting Syria's request for weapons is nothing new, the official said that Israel believes that Syria has not changed its strategic outlook, and that Assad still stands behind his plan to see the peace process with Israel through.
The official added that Israel does not hold specific information on the type or number of weapons Assad is asking to acquire, yet stressed that Israel particularly objects to selling Damascus S-300 missiles, "a deal the PM was able to thwart during his meeting last October with then Russian President Vladimir Putin."
Israeli President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and some other officials have also expressed their concern over Russia 's possible arms deals with Syria, a neighbor Israel currently lists as an enemy state.
On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the Israeli security establishment is analyzing the ramifications of Assad's visit to Russia, with an emphasis on Damascus' intentions to "purchase advanced weaponry and upgrade its army."
(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2008)
