http://www.debka.com/article/22963/Putin-again-warns-Netanyahu-hands-off-Syria
Putin again warns Netanyahu hands off Syria
DEBKAfile Special Report May 14, 2013, 6:42 PM (IDT)
Putin and Netanyahu talk three hours at Sochi
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spent three
hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin at his residence in the
Black Sea resort of Sochi, Tuesday, May, 14. He came for a last-ditch
attempt to head off the supply of advanced Russian anti-air S-300
missile systems to Syria. Instead, the Russian leader turned the
conversation around to focus implicitly on Israel’s air strikes against
Damascus on May 3 and May 5. After their conversation he issued a
warning: "In this crucial period it is especially important to avoid any
moves that can shake the situation."
This was clearly a hands-off caution to Israel not to repeat its attacks
on Damascus. And, furthermore, after “shaking the situation” in Syria
by its air attacks, Israel was in no position to demand that Russia
avoid selling Syria advanced weapons.
The prime minister, for his part, warned that the entire Middle East was in a dangerous state of volatility.
He was accompanied by Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Maj. Gen.
Aviv Kochavi. Opposite him sat Mikhail Fradkov, SVR Director.
Kochavi laid before the Russian leader the information Israel had
gathered on the state of Syria’s chemical weapons with relevance to
their transfer to the Lebanese Hizballah.
Before Netanyahu’s arrival for the meeting, Moscow took two preparatory steps:
1. Russian diplomats leaked to the London-based Arab press a report
that the S-300 missiles had already arrived in Syria. According to
Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Moscow had delivered 200 launchers (probably missiles) and the Syrian missile teams already knew how to use them.
By this leak, the Israeli prime minister was being informed that his
journey to Sochi was a waste of time and that the use of S-300 missiles
for shooting down Israeli Air Force planes was no longer controlled by
Moscow but by Damascus.
2. The prominent strategic analyst, Viktor Kremenyuk of The USA and
Canada Institute in Moscow, reported Tuesday that Netanyahu arrived in
Sochi to indirectly let Putin know that “Israel would destroy the S-300s
when they are delivered and start being assembled.”
The deputy director of an important Russian think tank which advises the
Kremlin on North American policy does not tend to make idle comments.
debkafile’s
Moscow sources interpreted Kremenyuk’s remark as a means of informing
the Israeli leader that Moscow was not impressed by such threats.
Instead of pushing Putin to stop the S-300 missiles, Israel would be
more advantageously employed urging the Obama administration to adopt a
more realistic stand on Syria and Bashar Assad.
In Moscow's view, Washington must be brought to give up its threat of
Western military intervention in Syria, of which the Israeli air strikes
appeared to Putin as the harbinger, and come to terms with Assad’s
presence in any political solution of the Syrian conflict.
These positions the Russian President had conveyed previously to US
Secretary of State John Kerry and UK Prime Minister David Cameron. He
made it clear to Netanyahu that he stood by them as firmly as ever.
Therefore, say
debkafile’s
sources, so long as both powers remain entrenched in their positions,
there is not much hope of their coming together on an international
conference to resolve the Syrian conflict.
debkafile’s
military sources add: It is also unlikely that the Russian and Israeli
leaders had a chance to work out reciprocal ground rules for the Russian
officers supervising the S-300 missile operations in Syria to avoiding
hitting Israeli Air Force jets or for Israeli bombers to refrain from
destroying them.
The S-300 is designed to shoot down planes and missiles at 200-km ranges.
Israel is concerned that Moscow may decided to send the six S-300
batteries carrying 144 missiles due for Syria along with Russian missile
and air defense specialists. They will also be available for operating
the missiles effectively for downing Israeli Air Force planes striking
targets in Syria and Lebanon. Israel will be forced to think twice
before attacking the S-300 batteries for fear of hitting the Russian
officers. Putin is therefore placing a severe constraint on Israel’s
operational freedom by spreading an anti-air missile cover over the
Syrian, Hizballah and the Iranian Basij forces fighting for Bashar
Assad.