"Damascus is Moscow's long-standing partner in military cooperation, and
we are expecting to reach an agreement in principle on new weapons deals," a
Russian diplomatic source told the Interfax news agency.
Assad, who ended a two-day visit on Aug. 21, has also pledged to
consider a Russian request to station the Iskander-E long-range, solid-fuel
rocket in Syria. Moscow has asserted that the Iskankder could penetrate
Israeli or U.S. missile defense systems.
"In principle, yes," Assad said. "We have not thought of it yet. No such
proposal has been received. In any case, all similar projects must be first
studied by military experts. And when everything is decided, we will make an
open and public announcement."
On Aug. 21, Syria, amid sharp Arab criticism, withdrew from any
commitment to deploy Iskander. A Syrian official said Assad did not discuss
Iskander during his meeting with Medevdev.
Officials said a key question would be Syria's ability to pay for
weapons systems. They said Iran was expected to help finance any
Russian-Syrian arms deal.
"Of course military and technical cooperation is the main issue," Assad
said. "Weapons purchases are very important. I think we should speed it up."
