Russia rejects Hillary Clinton's claims of sending attack helicopters to Syrian regime's military
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks at a news conference in Moscow June 9, 2012. / AP Photo
Updated at 3:29 p.m. ET
(CBS/AP) MOSCOW - Russia's foreign minister has rejected the U.S. claim that Moscow is sending attack helicopters to Syria.
Russian news agencies reported Wednesday that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied a claim by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that "there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria." Lavrov said during a visit to Iran that Russia is completing earlier weapons contracts with Syria exclusively for air defense systems.
Clinton said Tuesday that the shipment "will escalate the conflict quite dramatically."
Lavrov said that Russia isn't providing Syria with weapons that can be used against peaceful demonstrators.
At the State Department, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland stood by Clinton's comments, CBS Radio News correspondent Cami McCormick reports.
"I would encourage him to check with his own authorities," Nuland said of Lavrov.
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Later Wednesday, Clinton warned Russia that it will sacrifice its interests in Syria unless it acts constructively now.
Speaking to reporters, Clinton questioned Russia's claim that it wants peace and stability restored in the Arab country and that it is not attached to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.
She said Russia is putting its "vital interests in the region and relationships" at risk by blocking international action on a transition plan.
Russia, along with China, has shielded Assad's regime from international sanctions over its violent crackdown on protesters in which more than 13,000 people have died, according to opposition groups.
Officials from around the world are warning that the violence risks becoming an all-out civil war, with Middle East power brokers from Iran to Turkey possibly being drawn into the fighting.
Diplomatic hopes have rested on Washington and Moscow agreeing on a transition plan that would end the four-decade Assad regime.
But Moscow has consistently rejected the use of outside forces to end the conflict or any international plan to force regime change in Damascus. Despite withering criticism from the West, it insists that any arms it supplies to Syria are not being used to quell anti-government dissent.
With diplomacy at a standstill, the reported shipment of helicopters suggests a dangerous new turn for Syria after more than a year of harsh government crackdowns on mainly peaceful protests and the emergence of an increasingly organized armed insurgency.
Russia and Syria have a longstanding military relationship and Syria hosts Russia's only naval base on the Mediterranean Sea. But in light of the brutal violence, the U.S. has repeatedly demanded that any further deliveries of weaponry be halted. Russian military support in the form of materiel as advanced as attack helicopters would deal a serious blow to efforts to starve the Syrian army of supplies.
The U.S. and its allies have been hoping that sanctions on Assad's government and its increased isolation would make it increasingly difficult to carry out military campaigns. Attack helicopters are heavily armored and can carry machine guns, rockets, missiles or other weapons capable of firing at ground targets.
Asked why the Pentagon isn't blocking Russian weapons shipments to Syria, Defense Department officials noted that the administration hasn't declared an arms embargo. Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, accepted the argument that Moscow's resupplying of helicopters enables the regime to kill its own people, but said the key issue is how the Syrians use the materiel.
"Let's not let the Assad regime off the hook here," he told reporters. "The focus really needs to be more on what the Assad regime is doing to its own people, than the cabinets and the closets to which they turn to pull stuff out. It's really about what they're doing with what they've got in their hands."
In recent days, the State Department has decried what it calls "horrific new tactics" by Syrian forces, including helicopters attacks on civilians.
Nuland said Tuesday that Clinton's comments referred specifically to new helicopters that were being sent to Syria, and not already existing Russian-made or Soviet-made supplies being used by Assad's government.
"We have been pushing the Russians for months to break their military ties with the Syrian regime and they haven't done it," she told reporters in Washington. "Instead, they keep reassuring all of us that what they are sending militarily to Syria can't be used against civilians.
"But what are we seeing?" Nuland asked. "We are seeing the Syrian government using helicopters to fire on their own people from the air. So our question remains: How can the Russians conscience their continued military sales to Syria?"
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged a tougher U.S. response. She accused Russia of enabling repression by Syria and its ally Iran.
"We must not give a U.S. blessing to Russia's policies in Iran and Syria or we will simply invite Moscow to redouble its efforts to undermine U.S. interests around the world," she said.
Clinton, as well, warned about a massing of Syrian forces near Aleppo over the last two days, saying such a deployment could be a "red line" for Syria's northern neighbor Turkey "in terms of their strategic and national interests."
"We are watching this very carefully," she said.
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All freedom loving people wear red on June 29, for it surely will be another day of Red Blood in Syria.
Let the web communicate to the world. Wear Red! June 29th in support of the people of Syria
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Next thing you'll be posting is how much water the Sahara Desert has.
I did my time, wearing my country's uniform and defending the right for ALL American people to speak their opinions and -- yes -- even criticize our own government when we think it deserves it. Since you obviously flunked out in the 2nd grade, I'm sure you're totally unaware of the fact that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that right to all Americans.
"Patriot" is just a word you heard somewhere and thought it looked good. You have NO idea what it actually means.
This second version fights for an American Empire.
How does that work? If the weapon is aimed against a peaceful demonstrator, does it shut itself off?
The Syrian conflict is not an internal matter anymore. The U.S. and the Gulf Arab states provide the Syrian opposition with hundreds of millions of dollars, plus with all types of weapons, and lately with anti-tank missiles. Syrian rebels video shows them destroying Syrian tanks and screaming "Allahu akbar." The Russian saw their tanks burning, and they decided to up the ante too!
Now the U.S. is blaming Russia for providing Assad with "attack helicopters." Surely the Russian will do. They don't want to lose in Syria. The U.S. choice now is to arm the Syrian rebels with "Stinger missiles" to shot the Russian attack helicopters down. Then wait to see how the Russian will counteract. Syria is an expanded East - West conflict now. Reuters carries this headline about Syria today: "SYRIA BECOMING WIDER GLOBAL, REGIONAL PROXY WAR." (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/13/us-syria-global-proxy). Reuters, June 13, 2012)
It is all about isolating Iran and Hezbollah for the U.S. and its allies, and it is about keeping a loyal ally for Russia. The Syrian civilians are the helpless non-combatants caught and minced in the middle. And as a proverb says: "When the elephants fight, the grass is trampled!" Nikos Retsos, retired professor, Chicago
I agree with you. It's not about humanity, it's about interest.
How does one explain our cozy relationship with South American military juntas, Marcos of the Philippines, Batista and so on. Easy! Their were interest to protect (ours) and the populations of the aforementioned countries were not considered nor our 'constitutional principles' relative to them.
Russia is simply protecting its interest. Had Gaddafi behaved as we wanted and opened Libyan resources to the West with no restrictions, he'd still be alive and in power today.
We are no better than those we criticize.