WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (AFP)---The United States is "very concerned" over reports that Russia wants to sell weapons to Syria, a State Department spokesman said Friday.
"We are obviously very concerned about reports that Russia may be providing weapons, weapons systems to Syria," said spokesman Robert Wood.
"We have always said to the Russians that these sales should not go forward, they don't contribute to regional stability and, again, I urge them not to go through with these sales if there is an intent to go through with them," he told reporters.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won promises of fresh arms sales during a visit to Russia this week. He said Moscow could again become a bulwark against the West and help resist Israeli influence in the Middle East.
Israel, a key US ally, is particularly concerned Russia could deliver anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Syria that could end up in the hands of Lebanon's Syrian-backed Hezbollah militia whose political rhetoric centres on the destruction of the Jewish state.
On Thursday, Israeli President Shimon Peres warned that sending new weapons to Syria "would endanger peace in the world, not only in the Middle East."
Israel is particularly concerned Russia could deliver anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, which could end up in the hands of Lebanon's Syrian-backed Hezbollah militia whose political rhetoric centres on the destruction of the Jewish state.
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In a move marking a further deterioration in relations between Russia and the west, the Financial Times reports that Russia announced a halt in military cooperation with NATO, two days after the alliance's secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that there couldn't be 'business as usual' with Moscow until it pulled out its troops out of Georgia.
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"A reinforcement of links between Damascus and Moscow amount to a very negative development," said Tzahi Hanegbi, who heads the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee.
"It would push Syria to adopt an irresponsible and adventurist policy," he added.
Following the recent Russia-Georgia conflict, Israel, which maintains friendly ties with Tbilisi and has sold weapons to the Eurasian country -- as have several Western nations -- fears Moscow will exact a price for this support by boosting its ties with Syria.
"I don't see any way (the potential weapon sales) can contribute positively to stability in the Middle East," Wood said.
Officials and analysts in Jerusalem believe it is unlikely the current diplomatic malaise between Israel and Russia would deteriorate into a full-blown crisis.
"The only new element is that the (Israeli) military aid given to Georgia has given Russia an argument to sell weapons to Syria," said Amnon Sela a political analyst at the Interdisciplinary Center think-tank.
An Israeli daily said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert planned to travel to Moscow within two weeks, hoping to convince President Dmitry Medvedev not to sell weapons to Syria, though officials did not confirm the report.
A foreign ministry official stressed that Israel "has taken into account Russian demands that it limit its military aid to Georgia," and a Russian envoy in Tel Aviv welcomed what he said was the suspension of Israeli arms sales to Tbilisi.
Russian Charge d'Affaires Anatoli Yurkov pointed out Israel's support to Georgia "is less important than that of the United States or France."
He also insisted that Russia will not deliver to Syria "any weapons that could alter the strategic balance" in the region.
