Moscow - Agencies
Russian military source said today that Russian ship carrying helicopters is expected to sail back to Syria, accompanied by at least another ship, and that is a few days after it was stopped off the Scottish coast and forced back by withdrawing its insurance. According to Interfax news agency, the military source, who requested to remain anonymous, said that the ship not be escorted by military vessels . Moscow says that the shipment is not linked to the conflict in Syria and that they send defensive weapons that can only help to protect the country from any foreign aggression, a statement rejected by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, describing it as not true at all. Scottish authorities on Wednesday forced the Russian ship to halt off the coast of Scotland suspecting it was carrying attack helicopters to the Syrian port of Tartus, which is considered a violation of the ban imposed by the European Union on the regime in Damascus, while Russia confirmed that it had not sent any new helicopter for the Assad regime. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow does not violate the provisions of international law, the resolutions of the UN Security Council nor its national legislation in the field of control on military exports. He also denied information about Russia supplies the Syrian security forces with modern types of weapons and military equipment. y