MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the West’s influence was waning as its economy declines but warned Russian diplomats to be on their guard against a backlash from Moscow’s former Cold War enemies.

In a biennial speech to Russian ambassadors, Putin also took a shot at the West by condemning any unilateral actions to solve international disputes and underlined the importance of resolving such conflicts through the United Nations.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will not deliver fighter planes or other new weapons to Syria while the situation there remains unresolved, the deputy director of a body that supervises the country’s arms trade was quoted as saying on Monday.

“While the situation in Syria is unstable, there will be no new deliveries of arms there,” Vyacheslav Dzirkaln told journalists at the Farnborough Airshow in Britain, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia is expected to deliver air defense systems, reconditioned helicopters and fighter jets to Syria this year worth nearly half a billion dollars despite international pressure to halt arms sales to Damascus, a defense think-tank said on Tuesday.

The report, by CAST, a Moscow-based think tank, is likely to fuel concerns that Russia is supplying President Bashar al-Assad with arms that are being used against protesters taking part in an uprising against him and air defense systems that could be deployed in the event of international military intervention.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A ship carrying Russian helicopters to Syria, which turned back after its insurance was cut, is expected to resume its journey accompanied by at least one other vessel, Interfax reported on Sunday, citing a military source.

The report is likely to reignite international criticism of Russia’s arms deliveries to Syria which U.S. officials have called reprehensible and the Arab League has said should be stopped.

PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – Russia acknowledged on Thursday that it was trying to send repaired combat helicopters to Syria and said it would continue to carry out arms contracts with President Bashar al-Assad’s government despite Western and Arab criticism.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also made clear Russia and the United States remain at odds over a solution in Syria after a meeting between Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, saying Assad’s exit cannot be a precondition for a political process.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia should halt arms sales to Syria and U.N. sanctions could be needed to force President Bashar al-Assad and rebels fighting to oust him to implement a failing peace plan, a senior Arab League official was quoted as saying on Thursday.

The U.N. observer mission in Syria, which suspended operations on Saturday because of the rising violence, should be replaced by peacekeepers, the League’s deputy secretary general Ahmed Ben Helli told Interfax news agency in an interview.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers blamed each other for deadlock at talks on Tehran’s nuclear program on Tuesday as negotiators struggled for a breakthrough to reduce the risk of a new Middle East war.

Late on the second and final day of talks in Moscow, diplomats said negotiators were still far from agreement on Iranian work which the United States, China, Russia, Germany, France and Britain fear may be aimed at building nuclear arms.

LONDON/MOSCOW June 19 (Reuters) – A cargo ship off the
British coast carrying weapons bound for Syria has apparently
turned back towards Russia, Britain’s Foreign Secretary said on
Tuesday, calling again for a halt to arms shipments to President
Bashar al-Assad.

The Curacao-flagged cargo ship Alaed, last seen off the
north-west coast of Scotland this week, was believed to carrying
Russian weaponry to Syria, according to an insurer which said it
had withdrawn coverage for the vessel.

LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) – A cargo ship now moving off the north-west coast of Scotland is believed to be carrying Russian weaponry to Syria, according to an insurer which says it has withdrawn coverage for the vessel.

Britain said it was aware of a consignment of refurbished Russian-made attack helicopters heading for Syria, but did not say if it was referring to the same vessel.

MOSCOW, June 19 (Reuters) – Iran and world powers blamed
each other on Tuesday for the lack of progress in talks on
Tehran’s nuclear programme, which has dimmed hopes of a
breakthrough to avert the threat of a new Middle East war.

On the second and final day of talks in Moscow, frustration
mounted over the failure to move any closer to ending a decade
of negotiations over Iranian work which the United States and
its allies fear is designed for building nuclear weapons.