Russia recently announced that they would not sign any new weapons contracts with Syria – a move that the international community held in high esteem. Days later, the Russian military put on this show:
Although the clip lacks much depth, it does give some insight into Russia's recent decision to sign no new contracts with Syria, which would have meant billions of dollars for Moscow and their monopoly arms dealer, Rosoboronexport. This show of might was not for Syria, as Zakaria points out, but rather was directed toward the burgeoning arms markets in Asia, like India and China.
There was another show of might today, when two Russian Navy ships entered the eastern Mediterranean as an advance unit of an 11-warship flotilla. This, according to James Brooke of VOA, is to be "the largest display of Russian naval power in the Mediterranean since the collapse of the Soviet Union."
"Russia has a crystal clear position," said Yevgeny Michenko, the director of the International Institute for Policies Expertise in Moscow. "It means that Russia does not want to support changes of the Syrian president, and Russia doesn’t support any kind of military operation like it was in Libya."
Vyachelslav Dzirkaln, the deputy director of Russia's Military-Technical Cooperation Service, says the flotilla might be used to prevent a Western blockade of Syria. This comes just days after Dzirkaln announced Russia's plan not to sign new weapons contracts with Syria.
Michenko went on: "Maybe if we will hold the status quo for a few months, maybe the demands of the Syrian opposition will be more realistic. Maybe when they understand that there is no Libyan scenario, it will be a way for negotiations, for real negotiations."
The situation is Syria is grave. (<-- Warning—link is graphic.) And the politics in Russia are confusing as hell: tanks doing a ballet, Navy flotilla in the eastern Mediterranean, no new weapons contracts.
Expect the UN's security council to respond with a weak rebuke that Russia will veto.
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