Russia’s Black Sea Fleet said the Iman was sent to Tartus – where Russia has a
naval base – to replace another seagoing tanker, the Ivan Bubnov, “which
had been sent to Syria to demonstrate the Russian presence in the turbulent
region and for possible evacuation of Russian citizens”.
Russia and China have twice rejected UN Security Council resolutions that
would have introduced sanctions against Mr Assad’s regime or removed him,
but the Kremlin has shown signs of impatience with the Syrian leader.
On Tuesday Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said the country was
ready to support a resolution endorsing a plan by UN-Arab League peace envoy
Kofi Annan to resolve the crisis.
Mr Lavrov said recent
car bombings in Aleppo and Damascus and “fairy tales about the
entry of Russian warships into Syrian ports” were disrupting Mr Annan’s
efforts.
Mr Annan met twice with Mr Assad earlier this month. The details of his peace
proposals have yet to be made public.
Related posts:
Views: 0