Russia to continue supply of arms to Middle East: Putin

He said Russia strictly abides by all international commitments and regime in arms exports but would not permit any additional restrictions.

“Any attempts to impose on us any other restrictions based on unilateral or politically-driven assessments could not be and would not be taken into consideration,” Putin noted.

The Commission met to summarise the preliminary results of this year’s military and technical cooperation with foreign partners, in view of the Russian arms exports expected to reach $8 billion in 2007 compared to $6.5 billion in 2006.

The US has recently urged Russia to stop arms deliveries to countries whose political regimes Washington disapproves of.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns last week urged Russia to halt arms deliveries to Iran.

Russia and Iran concluded a contract in 2005 for deliveries of Tor-M1s, a high-precision missile system designed to destroy manned or unmanned aircraft, as well as cruise missiles flying at an altitude of up to 10 kilometers. Russia subsequently supplied 29 Tor systems to Iran for $700 million.

Last Wednesday, US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice criticized Russia’s weapons deliveries to Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has repeatedly said Russian arms deals with Syria do not alter the balance of forces in the Middle East region. He also said Russia was fully in line with international commitments in this field.

Washington has also criticised Russian arms supplied to Venezuela, which recently purchased 50 military helicopters and 24 Su-30MK2 fighters from Russia, as well as 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles.