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| Russia to give S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria to deter intervention |
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 Russia said on Tuesday that it will go ahead with deliveries of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, and that the arms will help deter foreign intervention, the BBC reported.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the missiles were a "stabilizing factor" that could dissuade "some hotheads" from entering the conflict.
Russia also criticized an EU decision not to renew an arms embargo on Syria.
The S-300 is a highly capable surface-to-air missile system that, as well as targeting aircraft, also has the capacity to engage ballistic missiles.
It is broadly comparable to the U.S. Patriot system which has been deployed by NATO to guard Turkish air space against attack.
Ryabkov said the contract for the missile systems had been signed several years ago.
"We consider these supplies a stabilizing factor and believe such steps will deter some hotheads from considering scenarios that would turn the conflict international with the involvement of outside forces," he was quoted as telling journalists, in a coded reference to the use of NATO warplanes in Libya.
The Russian official also said the EU decision to lift its embargo against arming rebels in Syria will “directly harm” the prospects of holding a peace conference on the crisis.
Ryabkov called the decision “a manifestation of double standards,” the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.
“This directly harms the prospects of convening an international conference,” he said.
Late on Monday, the European Union agreed to lift its embargo on arming the opposition after a strong push for the measure by France and Britain.
The public brinkmanship comes as Russia and the U.S. are trying to bring both sides in Syria to Geneva for talks on ending the country's devastating 2-year crisis.
The Geneva talks next month, mediated by the U.S. and Russia, offer what Western diplomats say is the best — if still very tenuous — chance to end the bloodshed that is increasingly threatening to embroil Syria's Mideast neighbors.
Ryabkov said it undermines the efforts of both Russia and the U.S. to mediate peace talks.
A French official in Paris stressed that this was a “theoretical” lifting of the embargo that would not go into effect until August 1 at the earliest because the EU did not want to hurt the peace talks promoted by Moscow and Washington.
The proposed “Geneva 2” meeting is expected to happen some time next month after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed in May to try and bring the warring sides together at conference.
Ryabkov said that Russia was “disappointed” by the European Union's decision.
“We are disappointed that decisions are being reached that not only fail to promote a political solution... but which contradict the policies conducted by the European Union itself,” he was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS.
He further accused the 27-nation bloc of setting “double standards” by lifting the arms embargo against the opposition but not the Syrian troops.
Meanwhile, Louay Safi, a senior figure in the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group welcomed the EU decision to let the bloc's arms embargo expire, calling it a “positive” step.
Monday's EU agreement lifts a self-imposed embargo on weapons deliveries into Syria — notably equipment that could at least partially help the outgunned rebel fighters hold their own against Syria's massive, Russian-backed firepower. EU diplomats said Britain and France were the only two member states considering such deliveries.
Sen. John McCain, meanwhile, made an unannounced visit to rebel forces in Syria.
In Damascus, a Syrian lawmaker on Tuesday criticized the EU decision, saying that efforts to arm the rebels will discourage the opposition from seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict.
The comments by Essam Khalil, a member of the parliament for the ruling Baath Party, were the first by a Syrian official.
On Sunday, Damascus agreed in principle to participate in peace talks in Geneva next month. The United States and Russia hope to bring together the government and opposition for direct talks, but the exact date, agenda and list of participants for the conference remains unclear.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Assad’s government will participate in the Geneva conference, calling it a “good opportunity for a political solution” to the two-year conflict.
Britain says that arming the opposition would create a level playing field that would force President Bashar al-Assad into a negotiated settlement.
Austria was among the holdouts to keep the EU from providing weapons, arguing it would only acerbate an already horrific situation.
“We just received the Nobel Peace Prize and to now go in the direction of intentionally getting involved in a conflict with weapon deliveries, I think that is wrong,” Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said.
“To turn and reverse our line would not help in the conflict,” he said.
The crisis in Syria began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
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