Syria, Russia discuss Mideast peace efforts

Russia's planned international conference on the Middle East must be well-prepared if it is to succeed, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday.

The official SANA news agency said Lavrov briefed Assad on Moscow's wish to "organize a conference on the Middle East in order to discuss the peace process."

It said the Syrian president responded that "the conference must be well-prepared" and "set out objectives as well as the positions of those parties concerned" in the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Assad also said it was important to know "the extent of Israel's commitment to achieve a just and comprehensive peace," SANA reported.

On Saturday, he branded Israel as the "major obstacle" to peace in the Middle East and backed the right of resistance to recover occupied land. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday ruled out a return to Israel's 1967 borders, as its largely right-wing cabinet rebuffed calls to remove Jewish settlements built on Palestinian land.

Russia announced in January its intention to stage a Middle East conference in the first half of this year, but the idea has not been received with enthusiasm in either Israel or its key ally, the United States

Arms deal

Lavrov’s visit came following a Russian media report that Moscow had cancelled a deal to sell Syria eight advanced MiG-31 planes because of pressure from Israel.

Syria on Sunday issued an official statement denying the Russia reports saying: “This is part of attempts to undermine the friendly relations and cooperation between Syria and Russia."

Russian Kommersant newspaper quoted an unidentified person close to Russia's state arms exporter as saying that the $500-million deal, agreed to in 2007, was halted after Israel protested.

The paper quoted another source in an unidentified Russian ministry as saying the contract had been halted because Syria could not come up with the money to pay for the fighters.

Syria, which has adhered to a ceasefire with Israel on the Golan Heights since 1974, has been trying to upgrade its military in the last several years.

This is part of attempts to undermine the friendly relations and cooperation between Syria and Russia

Syrian official statement