14:09 21.09.2013

Kozhara denies foreign media reports about alleged arms shipments to Syria via Ukraine

2 min read
Kozhara denies foreign media reports about alleged arms shipments to Syria via Ukraine

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara has reiterated that Ukraine did supply weapons to Syria.

"The Foreign Ministry officially stated that there have been no supplies of military goods to Syria since 2011 and that Ukraine fully complies with all sanctions in relation to that country," he said during a discussion as part of the 10th Yalta Annual Meeting on Saturday, when asked to comment on alleged arms shipments through the Oktiabrsk Port (Mykolaiv region) to Syria.

"What is stated in this esteemed newspaper [the issue concerns a report by U.S.-based non-profit organization C4ADS] is untrue," Kozhara said.

According to a report prepared by C4ADS, Latvian banks have a considerable role in servicing Russian and Ukrainian arms deals and money laundering.

According to C4ADS, Ukraine's Oktiabrsk Port (Mykolaiv region) is engaged in the international arms trade network, through which arms supplies are conducted to Sudan, Congo, Myanmar, Venezuela, China, Angola and Iran.

Ukraine's State Service of Export Control has not confirmed the assumptions recently published by The Washington Post that arms cargo was transported from Russia to Syria in 2012-2013 via Oktiabrsk Port in Mykolaiv region.

"The State Service of Export Control did not issue any permission in 2012-2013 for transit shipments of military commodities from Russia to Syria via the territory of our state," the service said.

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