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Russia may send warships to Syria
MOSCOW, June 16, 2012
Vladimir Radyuhin
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Russia may send warships and troops to Syria to protect its logistics base in Tartous, according to a Russian military source.
“It is quite possible that warships of the [Russian] Black Sea Fleet may go to the Mediterranean Sea in case it is necessary to protect the Russian logistics base in Tartous, Syria, since is a zone of the Fleet’s responsibility,” a source in the Russian General Staff told the Itar-Tass government news agency.
“Several warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, including large landing ships with marines aboard, are fully prepared to take to the sea,” the source said.
The plan was announced shortly after France said the West mulled military interference in the Syrian crisis to unseat President Bashar Al-Assad.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that his country would push for a U.N. Security Council resolution to enforce Syria’s compliance with special envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point plan under the threat of sanctions, legal action or even military intervention. He said the imposition of no-fly zones was being considered as “one of the options” to “stop this regime of death and blood.”
The U.S. television network NBC quoted intelligence sources on Friday as saying that a Russian warship carrying a small contingent of troops was already en route to Tartus to provide security for the installation. However, the Russian General Staff source denied the report.
A group of Russian warships led by the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft carrying cruiser visited Tartous in January to replenish supplies and give maintenance to ship systems.
A few days earlier U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Russia was supplying attack helicopters to Syria, an allegation strongly denied by Russia’s Foreign Ministry. The State Department later backed away, saying that Ms Clinton was speaking about helicopters being refurbished in Russia and returned to Syria.
Asked about Ms Clinton’s statement Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said:
“Russia is completing deliveries under contracts signed and paid for long ago. All these contracts involve only air defence systems… We don’t provide Syria or anyone else with systems that are used against peaceful demonstrators, unlike the United States, which regularly supplies such equipment to the region.”
US military intervention in Syria – “Not if but when”
DEBKAfile Special Report June 16, 2012, 3:51 PM (GMT+02:00)
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As the violence in Syria continued to go from bad to worse in scope and intensity, US official sources had this to say Saturday, June 16, about planned US military operations in the war-torn country:
“The intervention will happen. It is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’”
A Syrian Free Army rebel delegation is now in Washington to talk about their requests for heavy weapons from the Obama administration. In their meetings with US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and the State Department’s expert on Syria Fred Hof, the rebel leaders handed in two lists for approval: types of heavy weapons capable of challenging Bashar Assad’s armed forces and selected targets of attack to destabilize his regime.
debkafile’s Washington sources disclose that the administration is very near a decision on the types of weapons to be shipped to the Syrian rebels and when. Most of the items Washington is ready to send have been purchased by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and are ready for shipment.
The White House is also close to deciding on the format of its military operation in Syria. Some sources are defining it as “Libya lite” – that is, a reduced-scale version of the no-fly zone imposed on Libya two years ago and the direct air and other strikes which toppled the Qaddafi regime.
Following reports of approaching US military intervention in Syria and a Russian marine contingent heading for Tartus port, the UN observer mission in Syria has suspended operations and patrols. Its commander Maj. Gen. Robert Mood said, “Violence has been intensifying over the past 10 days by both parties with losses and significant risks to our observers.”
He said the risk is approaching an unacceptable level and could prompt the 300 observers to pull out of the country.
Friday, June 15, debkafile reported:
A contingent of Russian special forces is on its way to Syria to guard the Russian navy’s deep-water port at the Syria’s Mediterranean coastal town of Tartus, Pentagon officials informed US NBC TV Friday, June 15. They are coming by ship. According to debkafile’s sources, the contingent is made up of naval marines and is due to land in Syria in the coming hours.
In a separate and earlier announcement, US Defense Department sources in Washington reported that the US military had completed its own planning for a variety of US operations against Syria, or for assisting neighboring countries in the event action was ordered – a reference, according to our sources, to Turkey, Jordan and Israel.
The Syrian civil war is now moving into a new phase of major power military intervention, say debkafile’s military sources. Moscow, by sending troops to Syria without UN Security Council approval, has set a precedent for the United States, the European Union and Arab governments to follow. They all held back from sending troops to Syria because all motions to apply force for halting the bloodshed in Syria were blocked in the UN body by Russia and China.
According to US military sources, in recent weeks, the Pentagon has finalized its assessment of what types of units would be needed and how many troops. The military planning includes a scenario for a no-fly zone as well as protecting chemical and biological sites. The U.S. Navy is maintaining a presence of three surface combatants and a submarine in the eastern Mediterranean to conduct electronic surveillance and reconnaissance on the Syrian regime, a senior Pentagon official said.
June 18, 2012 7:38 AM
Russia sending navy ships to Syria amid uprising
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/201...th_620x350.jpg Russian sailors do their morning exercises near a Navy vessel in the bay of the Ukrainian city Sevastopol, the main base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Sept. 6, 2011. (AFP/Getty Images)
The Arab Spring
(CBS/AP) MOSCOW - The Interfax news agency said Monday that two Russian navy ships are to sail to Syria to protect Russian citizens and its naval base there. This would mark the first time since the uprising in Syria started that Russia is sending extra troops to its base in Syria.
Interfax quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov amphibious assault vessels will be heading to the Syrian port of Tartus, but didn't give a precise date. The official said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate materials from Tartus if necessary.
CBS News confirmed with the Russian navy that the two ships were ordered to go to Syria to protect its assets and was working to confirm whether the ships would be carrying additional military personnel.
Special Section: The Arab Spring
U.N. demands evacuation of civilians from Homs
U.N. observers halt operations in Syria
The Defense Ministry had no immediate comment, and an official at the Russian Black Sea fleet declined to comment. Tartus is Russia's only naval base outside the former Soviet Union with Russian personnel of an unspecified size. The bulk of Russian military men in Syria are military advisers teaching Syrians how to use Russian weapons.
Russia has shielded Syria's regime from international sanctions over its crackdown on protests. It also continued to provide it with arms.
Opposition groups say more than 14,000 people have been killed since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime. But a ferocious government crackdown led many to take up arms, and the conflict is now an armed insurgency.
Report: Russia to send marines to Syria
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV – 1 hour ago
MOSCOW (AP) — Two Russian navy ships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation's base there, a news report said Monday. The deployment appears to reflect Moscow's growing concern about Syrian President Bashar Assad's future.
The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the two amphibious landing vessels, Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov, will be heading shortly to the Syrian port of Tartus, but didn't give a precise date.
The official said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate some equipment from Tartus if necessary.
Interfax said each of the ships is capable of carrying 150 marines and a dozen tanks.
It also quoted a deputy Russian air force chief as saying that Russia will give the necessary protection to its citizens in Syria.
"We must protect our citizens," Maj.-Gen. Vladimir Gradusov was quoted by Interfax as saying. "We won't abandon the Russians and evacuate them from the conflict zone if necessary."
Asked whether the air force would provide air support for the navy squadron, Gradusov said they will act on orders.
The Defense Ministry had no immediate comment, and an official at the Russian Black Sea fleet declined to comment.
Tartus is Russia's only naval base outside the former Soviet Union, serving Russian navy ships on missions to the Mediterranean and hosting an unspecified number of military personnel.
Russia also has an unspecified number of military advisers teaching Syrians how to use Russian weapons, which make up the bulk of Syrian arsenals.
Syria is Russia's last remaining ally in the Middle East, and has been a major customer of Soviet and Russian weapons industries for the last four decades, acquiring billions of dollars worth of combat jets, helicopters, missiles, armored vehicles and other military gear.
Russia has shielded Assad's regime from international sanctions over its violent crackdown on protests. Moscow also has continued to provide Syria with arms despite Western calls for a halt in supplies.
Opposition groups say more than 14,000 people have been killed since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime. But a ferocious government crackdown led many to take up arms, and the conflict is now an armed insurgency.
Russia has criticized Assad for slow reforms and heavy-handed use of force, but has strongly opposed any sanctions or foreign interference in Syrian affairs.
US enlists UK clout to stop Syria-bound Russian ship
Published: 18 June, 2012, 09:08
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MI-24 helicopter (AFP Photo / Genia Savilov)
The US government has enlisted Britain's help in a bid to stop a cargo ship suspected of carrying Russian attack helicopters and munitions to Syria. Curiously, the media mention a model of chopper which does not exist.
Washington is painting the alleged shipment as being in breach of the Syrian arms embargo, with a view to affecting the ship’s insurance cover.
The MV Alaed is a multipurpose twin-deck cargo vessel operated by Russia’s FEMCO Group. It is allegedly making its way to the conflict zone in Syria via the North Sea after picking up helicopters from the Russian Baltic port of Kaliningrad.
The current European Union arms embargo against Syria, imposed in May last year, suggests a ban on the "transfer or export" of arms and any related "brokering" services, including insurance.
The American government is presumably trying to use this legislation to force the vessel's London-based insurer to withdraw its cover. This would make it difficult for the ship to dock legally in ports and could force it to return the cargo to the port of origin.
Interestingly, all the media sources refer to “Mil Mi-25” helicopter, suggesting a single source of information. No such model, however, has ever been produced by the Moscow chopper-maker Mil Helicopters.
Washington’s request to London comes after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week triggered a diplomatic ruction between Moscow and Washington when she lashed out at Russia over a shipment of attack helicopters, which she said the Syrian government could use in a crackdown on the opposition forces.
“We are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria,” she said.
It was later revealed that the aircraft in question were not new machines, but rather Syrian-owned helicopters, which Russian engineers had overhauled under a standing contract at Mil’s premises in Kaliningrad. The choppers are believed to be part of a 36-strong consignment ordered by the Syrian government at the end of the Soviet era.
Moscow responded heatedly to the accusations. Speaking in Tehran on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated that Russia does not sell to the Syrian government any arms which could be used against the opposition, unlike the US, which sells anti-riot equipment to the governments of its Gulf region allies. The minister was referring to US supplying crowd control arms to Bahrain and other controversial allies, who are known to suppress domestic dissent with force.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Syrian forces pound cities; Russia readies marines
By Erika Solomon
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian security forces pounded opposition areas across the country on Monday, activists said, adding that at least 23 people had been killed in clashes they say have escalated since international observers suspended their mission.
http://starstorage.blob.core.windows...RIA-CRISIS.JPG Residents carry the body of Mousa Khadra, whom protesters say was killed by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, during his funeral in Ybroud, near Damascus, June 17, 2012. REUTERS/Shaam News Network/Handout
Activists said artillery had targeted Douma, a town 15 km (9.3 miles) outside the capital Damascus. The town has for weeks been under the partial control of rebels who have joined the 15-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
"We can't even accurately count the dead because we have so many injured people to treat, there's no time to think about anything else," said an activist in Douma who called himself Ziad.
"The army attacks all the time. They have tanks, missiles, mortars, and artillery. Even helicopters have fired on us. People can't escape because the army is surrounding the town."
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists across Syria, said at least 23 people had been killed by midday on Monday, seven of them in Douma.
In a sign it fears Syria's conflict could escalate further, an unnamed Russian naval source said Moscow was preparing to send marines to Syria in the event it needed to protect personnel and remove equipment from its naval facility in Syria's Mediterranean port of Tartous, according to the Interfax news agency.
Russia is one of the Syrian government's staunchest backers and supports Assad's argument that foreign-backed terrorists are behind the unrest. Moscow has repeatedly urged Western and Arab countries, who mostly back the rebels, to rein in their support in order to stem the violence.
International outrage over Syria has grown in recent weeks after two reported massacres of nearly two hundred civilians, most of them from the Sunni Muslim majority population that has led the revolt. Assad comes from Syria's Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has mostly backed the president.
Heavier fighting and apparent sectarian killings have led many, including the head of U.N. peacekeeping forces, to brand the violence a civil war.
The international community's efforts to halt the violence are deadlocked because Russia and China, which both wield vetoes in the Security Council, have blocked tougher action against Assad. They say the solution should be through political dialogue, an approach most of the Syrian opposition rejects.
Western powers have been pushing for stronger measures to be taken against Assad, whose forces have not only used artillery in recent weeks, but helicopter gunships against rebels in civilian areas.
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to discuss the Syria crisis with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet in Mexico on Monday. But few observers expect a breakthrough.
Relations between Washington and Moscow have further frayed after a week of Cold War-style recriminations over Syria.
TRAPPED IN BOMBARDED HOMS
The head of the United Nations observation mission, General Robert Mood, is scheduled on Tuesday to brief the U.N. Security Council in New York on the violence in Syria.
The mission recently halted its operations due to security concerns, and Mood said on Sunday he was worried about civilians trapped in central Homs.
"In Homs attempts to extract civilians form the line of fire over the past week have been unsuccessful," he said in a statement. "This requires willingness on both sides (of the conflict) to respect and protect the human life of the Syrian people."
Residents in Homs, the bloody epicentre of the revolt against Assad, said their city has been pummelled daily by mortar and rocket fire since early June.
"It's getting worse since the UN observers suspended their mission," wrote Alaa, who said he was a Homs resident but would only give his first name.
"There are tanks shooting now and most stores are closed. The streets are blocked by security barriers and cement blocks."
Bernard Valero, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, said the "relentless repression of the regime, and in particular in the city of Homs" meant it was more necessary than ever for the United Nations to enforce Kofi Annan's failing peace plan.
France has called on the United Nations to invoke Chapter VII - which can authorise the use of force - to impose the plan brokered by international mediator Annan, including a widely ignored April 12 ceasefire agreement.
U.N. monitors say violence has been escalating rapidly in Syria, where peaceful protests were overtaken by an armed insurgency several months ago in response to Assad's crackdown on dissent.
In Geneva, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the government's use of heavy arms and shelling in populated areas could amount to war crimes, and called on the international community to act.
"I urge the international community to overcome its divisions and work to end the violence and human rights violations to which the people of Syria have been subjected," she said.
US, Russian leaders jockey for leverage on Iran, Syria in first meeting since Putin’s return
(Haraz N. Ghanbari, File/ Associated Press ) - FILE - In this July 7, 2009 file photo, President Barack Obama shakes hands with then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow. With global anxiety rising, President Barack Obama is searching for bolder, swifter signals from Europe that it will contain its fiscal mess and keep it from torpedoing the U.S. economy and his re-election chances along with it. Yet as he prepares to plunge into summit talks with the other world leaders, Obama is down to the power of persuasion and little else.
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By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, June 18, 1:05 AM
SAN JOSE DEL CABO, Mexico — President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin need one another, an uncomfortable truth for the superpower leader waging a tough re-election campaign and the newly elected Russian leader who is deeply suspicious of the United States.
The two men will use their meeting Monday, the first since Putin returned to Russia’s top job, to claim leverage. Much of the rest of the Group of 20 economic meeting will be devoted to the European fiscal crisis and the fate of Greece as a part of the euro zone.
“I expect that it will be a candid discussion, it will get down to business,” White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said ahead of the lengthy morning meeting between Obama and Putin.
“We’ll be able to sustain cooperation in some areas, we’ll have differences in other areas, and we’ll work to try to bridge those differences.”
The G-20 gathering is a natural forum for sideline discussions of the urgent crisis in Syria as well as diplomatic efforts to head off a confrontation with Iran. Russia is a linchpin in world efforts to resolve both crises, and to U.S. goals for the smooth shutdown of the war in Afghanistan. In the longer term, Obama wants Russia’s continued cooperation in nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.
Obama made a special project of Russia in his first term and arguably needs Moscow’s help even more if he wins a second one. He is trying to avoid a distracting public spat with Russia during this election year, as suggested by an overheard remark to outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in March. Obama told Medvedev he would have more flexibility to answer Russian complaints about a U.S.-built missile defense shield in Europe after the November election.
Things got off to a rocky start with Putin, when Obama pointedly withheld a customary congratulatory phone call to Putin until days after his May election. Putin appeared to snub Obama by skipping the smaller and weightier Group of Eight meeting that Obama hosted later that month at Camp David, and a planned Oval Office welcome for the new Russian leader.
The rescheduled Obama-Putin meeting comes the same day as Moscow hosts an international negotiating session with Iran. Russia has gone along with U.N. Security Council efforts to tighten some penalties against Iran because of questions about its nuclear weapons ambitions, but has blocked the harshest punishments.
Still, the United States needs Russia’s participation to lend legitimacy to the argument that Iran faces broad international condemnation. Iran usually paints the dispute over its nuclear program as a confrontation with the U.S. and its ally Israel.
Brutal attacks on anti-government protesters in Syria and the threat of civil war in the Mideast nation pose the most immediate crisis.
Diplomatic hopes have rested on Washington and Moscow agreeing on a transition plan that would end the four-decade Assad family rule. Russia, as Syria’s longtime ally and trading partner, is seen as the best broker for a deal that could give Syrian President Bashar Assad political refuge. So far, Moscow has said no.
Report: Russia to send navy ships carrying marines to Syria to protect military base
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View Photo Gallery — Conflict in Syria: Violence reportedly increases in the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, June 18, 4:08 AM
MOSCOW — Two Russian navy ships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation’s base there, a news report said Monday. The deployment appears to reflect Moscow’s growing concern about Syrian President Bashar Assad’s future.
The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the two amphibious landing vessels, Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov, will be heading shortly to the Syrian port of Tartus, but didn’t give a precise date.
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A look at the Syrian uprising one year later. Thousands of Syrians have died and President Bashar al-Assad remains in power, despite numerous calls by the international community for him to step down.
The official said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate some equipment from Tartus if necessary.
Interfax said each of the ships is capable of carrying 150 marines and a dozen tanks.
It also quoted a deputy Russian air force chief as saying that Russia will give the necessary protection to its citizens in Syria.
“We must protect our citizens,” Maj.-Gen. Vladimir Gradusov was quoted by Interfax as saying. “We won’t abandon the Russians and evacuate them from the conflict zone if necessary.”
Asked whether the air force would provide air support for the navy squadron, Gradusov said they will act on orders.
The Defense Ministry had no immediate comment, and an official at the Russian Black Sea fleet declined to comment.
Tartus is Russia’s only naval base outside the former Soviet Union, serving Russian navy ships on missions to the Mediterranean and hosting an unspecified number of military personnel.
Russia also has an unspecified number of military advisers teaching Syrians how to use Russian weapons, which make up the bulk of Syrian arsenals.
Syria is Russia’s last remaining ally in the Middle East, and has been a major customer of Soviet and Russian weapons industries for the last four decades, acquiring billions of dollars worth of combat jets, helicopters, missiles, armored vehicles and other military gear.
Russia has shielded Assad’s regime from international sanctions over its violent crackdown on protests. Moscow also has continued to provide Syria with arms despite Western calls for a halt in supplies.
Opposition groups say more than 14,000 people have been killed since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad’s autocratic regime. But a ferocious government crackdown led many to take up arms, and the conflict is now an armed insurgency.
Russia has criticized Assad for slow reforms and heavy-handed use of force, but has strongly opposed any sanctions or foreign interference in Syrian affairs.
First Published: 2012-06-18
Russia-US talks on Assad begin with deployment of Russian warships to Syria
Talks at Group of 20 summit in Mexico will test whether two leaders can forge working relationship, find common ground on Syria, other festering disputes.
Middle East Online
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http://www.middle-east-online.com/me.../_52891_A2.jpg Obama-Putin: Mistrust prevails
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MOSCOW – Russia is preparing to send two warships to the Syrian port of Tartus, where Moscow operates a strategic naval base, to ensure the safety of its nationals, the Interfax news agency reported Monday.
The report comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to meet his US counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos later Monday amid tensions over Syria clouding bilateral ties.
"Two major amphibious ships -- The Nikolai Filchenkov and The Tsezar Kunikov -- are preparing to be dispatched to Tartus outside of their schedule," the Russian news agency quoted an unidentified officer from the Russian naval headquarters as saying.
The two ships will carry a "large" group of marines, Interfax added. There was no official confirmation of the report from the navy or the defence ministry.
The Tsezar Kunikov can carry 150 landing troops and various armaments including tanks, while The Nikolai Filchenkov can carry up to 1,500 tonnes of cargo and equipment, the report said.
Interfax said that the ships could be used to evacuate Russian nationals.
"The crews of The Nikolai Filchenkov and The Tsezar Kunikov and SB-15 rescue tug together with marines on board are able to ensure security of Russian nationals and evacuate part of the property of the logistical support base if need be," Interfax quoted a source as saying.
The protracted conflict between the ruling regime and the opposition in Syria shows no signs of easing.
The opposition has demanded the deployment of armed peacekeepers after UN observers halted their work because of bloodshed.
Russia and its ally China have previously blocked earlier attempts at the UN Security Council to condemn Damascus and have shielded Assad's regime from further pressure amid accusations that Moscow has been sending weapons to Damascus.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Russia of fuelling the violence by sending attack helicopters to Syria, which she said were "on the way" and would "escalate the conflict quite dramatically."
Russia angrily retorted that it was not making any new deliveries and had only carried out repairs of helicopters sent there many years ago.
Syria, one of the few countries to back Russia in its war with Georgia in 2008, is Moscow's close ally from the Soviet-era and a major purchaser of its arms.
Putin's predecessor at the Kremlin, Dmitry Medvedev, travelled to Damascus in 2010 in the first ever visit to the country by a Russian or Soviet head of state.
During talks with Assad he promised Russian assistance to Syria in reconstructing its oil and gas infrastructure and even in building a nuclear power station.
Over the past months the Kremlin has distanced itself from Assad but is sticking to its hard line, ruling out foreign intervention and insisting Assad's fate should be decided by Syrians themselves.
(Yes, this is not Syria specific... but)
USed weapons giveaway in Central Asia concerns Russia
Published: 18 June, 2012, 15:35
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Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers look at mortars during a weapons exhibition of military equipment donated to the ANA by the United States and other countries at the defence ministry in Kabul (AFP Photo / Shah Marai)
As US and NATO forces prepare to withdrawal from Afghanistan, speculation is rife that the Pentagon may provide used weapons to some Central Asian countries, thus complicating Russia’s military cooperation in the region.
While the handover of used military equipment by the Pentagon to Central Asian republics after the withdrawal of the ISAF forces from Afghanistan does not conflict with the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) agreements, it could complicate Russia's military-technical cooperation with the former Soviet partners, defense expert Vladimir Kudelev told Interfax-AVN on Friday.
"There is no conflict with the CSTO agreements here because basically we are talking about second-hand auxiliary equipment currently being used as materiel and technical support by theInternational Security Assistance Force," said Kudelev, the leading scientist at the Russian Institute of Oriental Studies.
After the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan in 2014, the military equipment used by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) may be transferred to Central Asian countries, Asia-Plus, citing Kommersant newspaper, reported.
The Pentagon is negotiating weapon transfers with the governments of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Some weapons will be transferred to these countries without charge and some – for safekeeping. It has also been reported that the US is negotiating on the possible transfer of medical equipment, communications and fire-fighting equipment.
A source in the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry said the issue was raised in March during a meeting between US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and his Kyrgyz counterpart Talaibek Omuraliev.
Meanwhile, Afghan authorities are trying to persuade US military officials to leave the maximum amount of equipment behind for their national army and police, the Afghan president's administration told the newspaper.
According to Russian diplomats, the transfer of NATO troops to Central Asian countries contradicts the agreements within the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
In December, the leaders of the CSTO, which include Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, agreed that the military bases of third countries can be placed on the territory of the organization's participants only following unanimous consent of all participants.
The subject could be discussed between President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama, who are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the G20 meeting Los Cabos, Mexico, held on June 18-19.
Companion Thread:
Why would you turn over military weapons and logistical equipment to the very Organizations (CSTO/SCO back by both Russia and China) preparing operational plans to counter your presence in the very same region?
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Today Obama and Putin meet one on one for negotiations. :rolleyes:
Russian Commandos 'to Escort Assad Out of Syria'
Voice of Israel cites Russian reports that say Russian commandos may sail to Syria to escort Assad to safety.
By Gil Ronen First Publish: 6/18/2012, 1:35 PM
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A child at Syrian rebel rally
Ships carrying Russian commandos may soon sail to Syria to escort strongman Bashar Assad to safety from the country where a rebellion against him is growing fiercer.
Reports to this effect were cited by Voice of Israel radio's veteran "listener" Miki Gurdus, who specializes in listening to radio broadcasts on various frequencies worldwide.
The Interfax news agency said Monday that two Russian navy ships are to sail to Syria to protect Russian citizens and its naval base there. This would be the first time since the current rebellion in Syria began that Russia is sending extra troops to its base in Syria.
Cited by the Associated Press, Interfax quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov amphibious assault vessels will be heading to the Syrian port of Tartus. The ships appear not to have left their home port in Sevastopol on the Black Sea yet.
The Russian official mentioned nothing about evacuating Assad, but said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate materials from Tartus if necessary.
Russia has shielded Damascus from international sanctions over its bloody crackdown on the rebellion against the minority Alawite regime. Russia also continued to provide the regime with arms.
Russia to send ships, tanks and marines to Syria
by Phantom Report on June 18, 2012
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Two Russian navy ships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation’s base there, a news report said Monday. The deployment appears to reflect Moscow’s growing concern about Syrian President Bashar Assad’s future.
The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the two amphibious landing vessels, Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov, will be heading shortly to the Syrian port of Tartus, but didn’t give a precise date.
The official said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate some equipment from Tartus, if necessary.
Each ship is capable of carrying up to 300 marines and a dozen tanks, according to Russian media reports. That would make it the largest known Russian troop deployment to Syria, signaling that Moscow is becoming increasingly uneasy about Syria’s slide toward civil war.
Interfax also quoted a deputy Russian air force chief as saying that Russia will give the necessary protection to its citizens in Syria.
Update: Russian Commandos ‘to Escort Assad Out of Syria’ [???, With complete blackout of any real media coverage from Syria, it is difficult to determine what is fact and what is complete propaganda BS- Phantom Report]
“We must protect our citizens,” Maj.-Gen. Vladimir Gradusov was quoted as saying. “We won’t abandon the Russians and will evacuate them from the conflict zone, if necessary.”
Asked whether the air force would provide air support for the navy squadron, Gradusov said they will act on orders.
The Defense Ministry had no immediate comment, and an official at the Black Sea fleet declined to comment.
Tartus is Russia’s only naval base outside the former Soviet Union, serving Russian navy ships on missions to the Mediterranean and hosting an unspecified number of military personnel.
Russian officials have said that other Russian navy ships that have called at Tartus this year also had marines on board, but it has remained unclear whether they rotated the troops at Tartus or simply protected the ships during their mission and returned home.
Russia also has an unspecified number of military advisers teaching Syrians how to use Russian weapons, which make up the bulk of Syrian arsenals.
Read More: AP/Times of Israel
Russia flies anti-air, anti-ship missiles to Assad as its fleet heads to Tartus
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 17, 2012, 8:47 AM (GMT+02:00) Tags: Syria http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif Barack Obama http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif Vladimir Putin http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif Russian warships http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif Tartus http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif no-fly zone http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif
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Russian marine landing craft
Moscow is using the time up until Russian President Vladimir Putin faces US President Barack Obama across the G20 conference table in Los Cabos, Mexico Sunday, June 17 - or in its corridors - to ship sophisticated arms to Syria able to prevent a no-fly zone and a fleet of warships to the Mediterranean port of Tartus.
While Pentagon sources Friday disclosed the approach of a “small contingent” of Russian warships to Tartus, debkafile’s military and intelligence sources have discovered that heading for the Russian base at this Syrian port is a Russian fleet that includes Ropucha-toad or Project 775 class landing-craft carrying Russian marines. Each craft can carry 250 marine personnel and 500-ton armored vehicles.
And flying overhead are Russian air transports that are touching down at Syrian air bases bearing, according to our sources, a variety of sophisticated munitions for the Syrian army: advanced Russian Pantsyr-S1 anti-air missiles capable of hitting fighter-bombers flying at an altitude of 12 kilometers and cruise missiles; self-propelled medium range anti-air Buk-M2 missiles (NATO codenamed SA-11). They are capable of downing aircraft flying at an altitude of 14 kilometers and Mach 32 speed; and shore-based Bastion anti-ship missiles which can reach vessels sailing 300 kilometers out to sea.
Russia is, in a word, supplying Bashar Assad, his regime and his army, with the very weapons they may need for warding off Western and Arab air efforts to impose a no-fly zone over Syria, while at the same time enabling him to repel seaborne assaults by his foes from the Mediterranean.
Since Syrian units have not been trained in the use of these advanced weapons, they are mostly likely coming with Russian technical teams to operate them - although they would be presented as “instructors.”
The Russians are not trying to conceal their military intervention in Syria in support of the Assad regime.
Friday, June 16, Anatoly P. Isaykin, director of Rosoboronexport (the Russian state arms export authority) said quite openly: I would like to say these mechanisms are really good means of defense, a reliable defense against attacks from air or sea. This is not a threat, but whoever is planning an attack should think about this.” The next day, Saturday, a source in the Russian General Staff told the Itar-Tass government news agency, “Several warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, including large landing ships with marines aboard, are fully prepared to take to the sea in case it is necessary to protect the Russian logistics base in Tartus, Syria, since it is a zone of the Fleet’s responsibility.”
debkafile’s sources in Washington, Moscow and the Persian Gulf expect the Russian and US presidents to get together in the course of the G20 summit for a meeting that will determine whether or not the US and its European and Arab allies go forward with their planned military intervention in Syria.
Agreement between the two presidents on their Syria and Iran policies could arrest this plan, whereas their failure to agree would quicken its pace.
Report: Russia Moves to Defend Syria Base
18 June 2012
The Moscow Times
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Channel One
The Admiral Kuznetsov cruiser on its way to the Russian base at the Syrian port of Tartus in January.
Russia is preparing to send marines to defend its naval base in Syria, amid continued unrest in the Arab state, Interfax reported on Monday, citing a Navy source.
Two large troop transport vessels and a rescue tugboat will defend Russian citizens and infrastructure in the port city of Tartus and also evacuate equipment if necessary, the source said.
Tartus is home to Russia's only naval base outside the former Soviet Union.
The report did not say when the ships would arrive or how many marines would accompany them.
Syria's close relationship with Moscow dates back to the Cold War, and Russia has helped block international sanctions against the Syrian government.
The West accuses President Bashar Assad's forces, often armed with Russian-made weapons, of killing thousands of civilians in an effort to suppress a civilian uprising that began last year.
Russia Is Reportedly Filling Two Of These Assault Ships With Marines And Rushing Them To Syria
Robert Johnson | Jun. 18, 2012, 9:07 AM
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The Tsesar Kunikov
Fearing for its naval base and citizens on the ground in the conflict ridden nation, Russia is reportedly sending two amphibious assault ships to Syria.
Oliver Carmichael at The Telegraph reports an unidentified Russian officer confirmed that "Two major amphibious ships – The Nikolai Filchenkov and The Tsezar Kunikov – are preparing to be dispatched to Tartus outside of their schedule."
The two ships can off load 450 Marines and nearly 2,200 tons of equipment, through ramps at both the front and back of the ship.
The ships will be docking at Tartus, Russia's only naval base outside the former Soviet Union where it's suggested they'll be used to help evacuate Russian troops and property.
There's been no official comment from the Russian navy or defense department yet, but the Syrian government has been bombing Homs and Damascus today after 67 people were killed across the country in weekend fighting.
The peak in violence was so bad that the United Nation's observers have suspended their monitoring missions.
With Tartus only 48 miles from Homs, Russia is no doubt concerned its people on the ground, instructing Syrians how to use Russian weapons at Tartus, may need to be removed if the fighting continues to escalate.
All this is going on while Obama is meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Mexico today, their first meeting since he reassumed the presidency earlier this year.
Moscow Sends Two Navy Ships to Syria to Protect Russians
Russia to deploy two naval vessels to Syrian port of Tartus to protect Russian citizens and its naval base there
By Gianluca Mezzofiore: Subscribe to Gianluca's RSS feed
June 18, 2012 4:04 PM GMT
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Russian sailors (Reuters)
Russia is poised to send two navy ships to Syria to protect Russian citizens and its naval base there, Interfax news agency reported.
One vessel can carry up to 150 landing troops and tanks. Both ships are heading to the Syrian port of Tartus. It is unclear when they will get there.
"The crews of the Nikolai Filchenkov and the Tsezar Kunikov and SB-15 rescue tug together with marines on board are able to ensure the security of Russian nationals and evacuate part of the property of the logistical support base if need be," an unnamed Russian official told Interfax.
One of the few countries to support Assad's regime, Russia has blocked any international effort to put in place sanctions against the country and has been accused of providing arms to government forces.
There was no official confirmation of the latest deployment from the navy or the defence minister.
UN Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned Russia for fuelling the violence by sending helicopters to Syria, a move she warned would "would escalate the conflict quite dramatically".
Russia hit back saying it was not making any new deliveries and had only carried out repairs of helicopters sent years ago.
The move to send ships has increased suspicions in the West that Syria is still aiding the regime.
"Russia is obviously concerned about Islamic regimes and perhaps most important of all it is terrified of chaos," Mark Galeotti, who chairs the Centre for Global Affairs at New York University, wrote in the Independent Online.
"Russia feels that the West doesn't know how to handle regime change and that the outcome is almost invariably the kind of chaos from which Islamic extremist movements arise."
The White House again urged Syria to stick to commitments it has made in recent months, including the ceasefire.
"We are consulting our international partners regarding next steps toward a Syrian-led political transition" said Washington. "The sooner this transition takes place, the greater the chance of averting a lengthy and bloody civil war."
Opposition activists have claimed that the government has intensified its shelling of rebel strongholds in Homs.
The UN has withdrawn its observers due to worsening security conditions.
While I may not share all the views the author has in this article, I do see Russia and China drawing a fine line in the ME sand while getting organized against the US and NATO...
All Eyes On Damascus: NATO And SCO Set To Face Off In Syria
By Saman Mohammadi (about the author)"In August 1914, most Germans regarded the armed conflict they were entering in spiritual terms. The war was above all an idea, not a conspiracy aimed at German territorial aggrandizement. To those who reflected on the matter, such aggrandizement was bound to be an offshoot of victory, a strategic necessity, and an accompaniment to German self-assertion, but territory was not what the war was about. Until September, the government and military had no concrete war aims, only a strategy and a vision, that of German expansion in an existential rather than a physical sense.Syria is facing an existential crisis, as well as the rest of the Middle East. The stakes couldn't be higher. Various plots are coming to a head in Damascus.
The idea that this was to be a "preventive war," to forestall the aggressive designs and ambitions of the hostile powers surrounding Germany, was certainly a part of the thinking of men like Tirpitz and Moltke. Yet these defensive considerations, while often discussed, were invariably subsumed by a grand sense of German power, whose time, it was felt, had come. The two aspects, the practical and the idealistic, were not mutually exclusive, as so many historians who have debated the war aims have implied; both were essential ingredients of the German personality on the eve of the war.
Despite sufficient evidence from the Crimean War, the American Civil War, and the Boer War that a major conflagration would involve long, drawn-out, and bitter fighting, few strategists, tacticians, or planners, German or any other, foresaw anything but a quick resolution to a future conflict. Despite a growing preoccupation by the military in the course of the nineteenth century with size and numbers, with war as a mass phenomenon, the vision everywhere was still of a war of movement, heroism, and quick decisions. Railways would get men to the front promptly; machine guns would be used in attack; mighty ships and mighty artillery would overwhelm the enemy in short order. However, although matériel was important, war was regarded, especially in Germany, as the supreme test of spirit, and, as such, a test of vitality, culture, and life. War, wrote Friedrich von Bernhardi in 1911 in a volume that was to go through six German editions in two years, was a "life-giving principle." It was an expression of a superior culture. "War," wrote a contemporary of Bernhardi's, was in fact "the price one must pay for culture." In other words, whether considered as the foundation of culture or as steppingstone to a higher plateau of creativity and spirit, war was an essential part of a nation's self-esteem and image.
At the outbreak of the war Germans were convinced, as Theodor Heuss, a staunch liberal and certainly no rabid nationalist, put it, of their "moral superiority," their "moral strength," and their "moral right." For Conrad Haussmann, also on the liberal left, the war was a question of will: "In Germany there is a single will in everyone, the will to assert oneself." Of course this was to be a national effort, this war, but only because it was to be an effort by every German." - Modris Eksteins. "Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age." (1).
"And this, I think, has been a wake up call from hell. It is telling us you have the power now to act. Summon the will, because the terrorists have the will to destroy America, to destroy freedom, to destroy all of America's allies and all the democracies, Israel being simply on the front line. They have the will, but they don't have the power." - War criminal and totalitarian liar Benjamin Netanyahu speaking about the meaning of the false flag 9/11 events on NBC on September 13, 2001. (2).
"Over the past sixteen months of the destabilization of Syria, NATO and the GCC have created a situation without exit that might well degenerate into global war," wrote French journalist Thierry Meyssan on Monday, June 11. (3).
NATO's military aggression against Syria is testing the members, unity, and vision of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). So far, they seem to be meeting the challenge, having met last Thursday and concluded that "they unanimously rejected military intervention as a way to resolve international hotspot issues," (4).
The portrayal of the conflict in Syria has proven to be more important than the conflict itself. Impressions and perceptions spread through the airwaves are driving this war, not facts on the ground.
But the roadblock of truth has stopped those who are once again committing highway robbery on the road to war by stealing people's minds and hearts with fabricated facts and fake images.
The Western mainstream media's abysmal failure to sell a false narrative about Syria based on NATO propaganda has forced NATO and its allies to change strategy and use the option of good old fashioned warfare to bring down Syria. The delusional media war planners in Washington have forgotten the basics of war. You know, the kind of warfare that involves armies and soldiers, not cameras and images.
Washington didn't face unified armies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. But Syria and Iran are different stories. These are not media wars. These are real wars against nations that can shoot back. An eye for an eye is now the motto. The criminal maniacs in Washington, NATO, and Israel won't be the only ones who will dish out pain on history's grandest of stages.
War is not about rooting for the good guys against the bad guys while watching bombs go off on television, as we have come to know it in the West. War is a very dirty business. Many millions will die if the insane leaders of the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Israel continue to wage their campaign of terror, mass murder, and destabilization throughout the Middle East.
For Syria to go down, brainwashed NATO troops will have to get directly involved. The "Free Syrian Army" is in reality the Controlled Foreign Terrorists (CFT). The CFT cold-bloodedly murders women and children in their sleep. They can bomb Syrian churches and clinics all night, but they can't take Syrian cities by day.
"The US and its allies have been actively supporting the Free Syrian Army (FSA) terrorists for over a year," wrote Prof. Michel Chossudovsky on Friday, June 8. "The organization and training consisted in the deployment of Salafist and Al Qaeda affiliated terrorists, alongside the incursion of French, British, Qatari and Turkish special forces inside Syria. US-NATO sponsored mercenaries are recruited and trained in Saudi Arabia and Qatar," (5).
The writer of the website, "Moon of Alabama," says that the Syrian army is getting its act together and making moves against the foreign-backed terrorists, writing:"Some UN people said that Syria is now in a civil war suggesting a somewhat even balance between the parties. I think that is hugely exaggerated. Western media claimed that the revolt in Syria was by all parts of the Syrian population and only now changes into a sectarian conflict. That is simply wrong. The fighting was from the very beginning sectarian with the rebels naming each Friday after this or that Sunni hero. These foreign supported, and partly foreign led, Sunni rebel groups will have huge difficulties to survive a real onslaught by the united Syrian army." (6).The bigger picture of the conflict in Syria has been reduced to occupy the background space of history, while fake humanitarian cries for intervention from the media brainwashed Western world have taken center stage.
There is every indication that the NATO-instigated crisis in Syria will draw out for a long time, bringing in Iran, Russia, and China into the picture. Save a new alliance between America and Iran, war will consume all the nations of the Middle East, cause the death of millions, and lead to America's final act of strategic suicide in the region.
Such a global tragedy can only be prevented if wise men retake control of America's policy towards Iran and end the feud before diehard fanatics lit the fuse and make Iranians and Americans fight against each other over nothing.
Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett, two former senior officials in the National Security Council, have repeatedly warned against a U.S. military attack on Iran. On May 28th, they wrote:There is "a very analogous logic at play in the Middle East." The United States "tried being the hegemon" in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places in the region. The results are clear: America's pursuit of hegemony in the Middle East "doesn't work"; in fact, "it actually makes us weaker." Just as the United States had (and has) interests in Asia, it has "critical interests" in the Middle East. And it can only protect and promote those interests by "having positive relations with all of the important players in the region--and especially with Iran." This, however, is "a strategic logic" that the Obama Administration "seems no more capable of embracing than its predecessors in the Bush 43 Administration." (Or, one might add, the Clinton and Bush 41 administrations.) It is a profound "strategic failure." (7).The consequences of attacking Iran will be far-reaching and ultimately tragic. Only madmen are for a war against Iran. Washington must come to its senses, send packing the god of hubris, and rejoin humanity.
Sources:
1. Modris Eksteins. "Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age ." 1989. Key Porter Books: Toronto. Pg. 90-91.
2. NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. Air date: September 13, 2001.
3. "Russian Warning Shots", by Thierry Meyssan , Voltaire Network , 11 June 2012, www.voltairenet.org/a174586
4. "Half Of Humanity: SCO Opposes Global Military Interventions", Voltaire Network , 10 June 2012, www.voltairenet.org/a174570
5. Prof. Michel Chossudovsky. "Confronting Iran, "Protecting Israel": The Real Reason for America's War on Syria." Global Research. June 8, 2012.
6. Moon of Alabama. "Syrian Army Is Now Taking The Initiative." June 13, 2012.
7. Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett. "Nuclear Talks With Iran Highlight The Downsides of America's Ongoing Quest For Middle East Hegemony." The Race For Iran. May 28, 2012.
Russia, China, Iran plan to stage in Syria “biggest Mid East maneuver”
DEBKAfile Special Report June 18, 2012, 8:31 PM (GMT+02:00) Tags: Russia http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif China http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif Iran http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif Joint exercise http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif Syria http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif Barack Obama http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif Vladimir Putin http://www.debka.com/static/images/tag_arrow.gif
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Middle East military tensions around Syria shot up again Monday, June 18, with the news reported by the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars that a joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise is to take place in Syria.
It was described as “the biggest of its kind ever staged in the Middle East” with 90,000 personnel, 400 air planes and 900 tanks taking part.
As part of its preparations, Beijing is reported to have asked Egyptian authorities to permit the passage through the Suez Canal in late June of 12 naval ships heading for the Syrian port of Tartus, where Moscow maintains a naval and marine base. debkafile reported earlier this week that Russian naval vessels with marines on board were heading for Tartus. The Iranian media did not itemize their contribution to the joint exercise.
debkafile stresses that this would be the first time that substantial Russian and Chinese military strength has ever been deployed in Syria or anywhere else in the Middle East. It means that the two powers are prepared to parade their unabashed partnership with the Iranian and Syrian armies for the shared purpose of obstructing US-European-Arab military intervention in Syria. A large-scale Russian and Chinese military presence in the embattled country would expect to deter the United States from leading a military operation against Bashar Assad and his regime.
No date was attached to the report but the exercise may possibly take place before the end of the month.
The large-scale maneuver was announced in Tehran on the first day of the nuclear crisis talks in Moscow between Iran and the six world powers, their third attempt to resolve the crisis by diplomacy. However, Russian and Iranian sources close to the talks were pessimistic about progress. An Iranian delegation member complained the atmosphere was harsh and unconstructive. A Russian source saw no way of bridging US-led Western differences with Tehran when the parties reconvene Monday.
debkafile also notes that the big joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise “at sea, air and land on Syrian soil,” ws released for publication shortly before US President Barack Obama was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Mexico.