Tank T-90 - seperti salah satu daripada 150 sebelum ini Rusia merancang untuk membekalkan ke Arab Saudi (T-90 tank - like one of 150 Russia previously planned to supply to Saudi Arabia (RIA Novosti/Valeriy Melnikov)
TIME after tIMe - RT (Published Ogos 07,
2013) Arab Saudi telah dilaporkan ditawarkan untuk membeli senjata bernilai sehingga $ 15 bilion daripada Rusia, dan menyediakan rakit konsesi ekonomi dan politik kepada Kremlin - semua dalam usaha untuk melemahkan sokongan Moscow Presiden Syria Bashar Assad.
Inisiatif diplomatik tanpa nama disuarakan kepada Reuters oleh pelbagai diplomat negara Teluk dan pemimpin kanan pembangkang Syria, di tengah-tengah mesyuarat minggu lepas di Moscow antara Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin dan Arab Majlis Keselamatan Negara Ketua Putera Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Ahli politik Arab telah merancang dasar luar negara itu pada bulan-bulan kebelakangan ini.
“Bandar yang ditawarkan untuk meningkatkan tenaga, ketenteraan dan kerjasama ekonomi dengan Moscow,” seorang tokoh kanan pembangkang Syria kepada Reuters.
“Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz berusaha untuk mengurangkan kedua-dua kebimbangan Russian utama: Yang pelampau Islam akan menggantikan Assad, dan bahawa Syria akan menjadi satu saluran untuk Teluk, terutamanya Qatar, gas mengorbankan Rusia”
$ 15 bilion itu telah disebut-sebut oleh seorang wakil pembangkang anti-Assad, yang Arab Saudi telah kuat disokong seluruh pemberontakan di Syria yang telah berkhidmat lebih daripada 2 tahun. Sementara itu, sumber Teluk mendakwa bahawa tidak ada angka yang terlibat.
Moscow dan Riyadh, yang secara tradisinya memperoleh senjata dari Amerika Syarikat, telah mempunyai kontrak besar-besaran di atas ais sejak 2008. Di bawah terma Arab Saudi, Rusia akan membekalkan pelbagai peralatan besar, termasuk 150 T-90 kereta kebal dan lebih daripada 100 helikopter.
Pada masa lalu, Moscow telah dibekalkan berbilion-bilion dolar senjata untuk Assad, serta mengekalkan pangkalan tentera laut di Syria.
Bersama-sama dengan China, ia telah secara konsisten disekat resolusi Majlis Keselamatan PBB, mengatakan mereka tidak meletakkan apa-apa tuntutan ke atas pembangkang - hanya pada Assad.
Saudi Arabia dangles lucrative arms deal in front of Russia in exchange for dropping Assad – report
Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered to buy arms worth up to $15 billion from Russia, and provided a raft of economic and political concessions to the Kremlin - all in a bid to weaken Moscow’s endorsement of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The diplomatic initiatives were anonymously voiced to Reuters by multiple Gulf state diplomats and senior leaders of the Syrian opposition, in the wake of last week’s meeting in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi National Security Council chief Prince Bandar bin-Sultan. The Saudi politician has orchestrated his country’s foreign policy in recent months.
"Bandar offered to intensify energy, military and economic cooperation with Moscow," a senior Syrian opposition figure told Reuters.
"Bandar sought to allay two main Russian fears: that Islamist extremists will replace Assad, and that Syria would become a conduit for Gulf, mainly Qatari, gas at the expense of Russia."
The $15 billion figure was touted by a representative of the anti-Assad opposition, which Saudi Arabia has strongly backed throughout the rebellion in Syria which has lasted more than two years. Meanwhile, a Gulf source claimed that no specific figure was involved.
Moscow and Riyadh, which traditionally acquires its arms from the United States, have had a massive contract on ice since 2008. Under Saudi Arabia’s terms, Russia would supply a huge assortment of equipment, including 150 T-90 tanks and more than 100 attack helicopters.
In the past, Moscow has supplied billions of dollars worth of weapons to Assad, as well as maintained a naval base in Syria.
Together with China, it has consistently blocked UN Security Council resolutions, saying they do not place any demands on the opposition - only on Assad.
Saudi Putera Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Ketua Ketua Perisikan dan Setiausaha Agung Majlis Keselamatan Negara Arab Saudi, semasa lawatan beliau Moscow (Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Chief of General Intelligence and Secretary-General of the National Security Council of Saudi Arabia, during his Moscow visit (RIA Novosti/Aleksey Nikolsky)
Sumber menunjukkan bahawa Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz meminta Putin untuk tidak menentang apa-apa resolusi Majlis Keselamatan masa depan Syria.
Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz juga dilaporkan yakin Putin bahawa negara-negara Teluk tidak akan mencabar kedudukan dominan Rusia dalam pasaran gas Eropah, dan memberi jaminan kepadanya bahawa kuasa-kuasa pelampau Islam - yang telah menjadi terkenal dalam konflik - tidak akan cuba untuk memonopoli kuasa dalam negeri Syria pada masa hadapan.
Walaupun diplomat yang terlibat dalam rundingan menggambarkan mereka sebagai “tidak meyakinkan,” kata seorang utusan Lubnan dekat dengan delegasi berkata anggota Arab yang telah “gembira.” Tiada sebarang komen dari Kremlin mengenai hasil lawatan itu, selain untuk mengatakan bahawa perwakilan membincangkan “pelbagai isu” dengan Presiden Putin.
Seorang diplomat Barat kepada Reuters bahawa kedudukan Rusia adalah lebih suatu perkara yang prestij dan geopolitik, dan bahawa negara ini tidak mungkin secara terbuka berundur demi insentif ekonomi semata-mata.
Satu sidang damai berjadual di Geneva, yang dicadangkan oleh Rusia dan Amerika Syarikat, telah ditolak ke belakang dan kini di bawah ancaman pembatalan. Mesyuarat itu sepatutnya untuk mencapai gencatan senjata segera dan mentadbir peralihan politik di Syria.
Konflik ini mempunyai sebahagian besarnya berengsel sama ada Presiden Bashar Assad akan diharamkan daripada bermain sebarang peranan politik pasca konflik Syria - keadaan pembangkang telah menuntut sebelum ia duduk di meja rundingan.
Lebih daripada 100,000 orang telah terkorban dalam konflik itu, menurut anggaran PBB.
Sources indicate that Bandar asked Putin to not oppose any future Security Council resolutions on Syria.
Bandar also reportedly assured Putin that Gulf states will not challenge Russia’s dominant position in the European gas markets, and assured him that extremist Islamic forces – which have gained prominence in the conflict – will not attempt to monopolize power in a future Syrian state.
While diplomats involved in the talks described them as “inconclusive,” one Lebanese emissary close to the delegation said its Saudi members were “elated.” There has been no comment from the Kremlin on the outcome of the visit, other than to say that the delegates discussed a “wide range of issues” with President Putin.
A Western diplomat told Reuters that Russia’s position was more a matter of prestige and geopolitics, and that the country was unlikely to publicly back down for the sake of mere economic incentives.
A long-scheduled peace conference in Geneva, proposed by Russia and the US, has been pushed back and is currently under threat of cancellation. The meeting was supposed to achieve an immediate ceasefire and govern a political transition in Syria.
The conflict has largely hinged on whether President Bashar Assad will be banned from playing any political role in post-conflict Syria - a condition the opposition has demanded before it sits down at the negotiating table.
More than 100,000 people have perished in the conflict, according to UN estimates.
