“Qatar and UAE buy weapons from Belarus just to arm terrorists”

Qatar needs Belarusian weapons just to supply it to terrorists in Syria and other hotbeds of tensions in the Middle East, Russian political analyst Yevgeny Satanovsky told EADaily on December 9.

Earlier Satanovsky said that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are supplying Middle East terrorists of the “Islamic State” (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) with arms bought from Belarus.  According to the analyst, previously the Arab monarchies were buying weapons through their agents in Serbia and North Korea. Now, they do it mainly through Minsk.

Answering EADaily’s question whether the arms that are bought from Belarus and supplied to the militants in the Middle East will be used against Russia and its allies, the expert said: “What a curious question. If you buy weapons and supply it to militants, what they should do with it? They will hardly use it just to take photos and post them in social media. Whether they will use the weapons against us, Syrians, Iranians or civilians whom they will be killing is another question. Who knows?”

“We know for sure that Qatar and UAE need weapons of the Soviet model for no one but terrorists in Sinai, Syria, and elsewhere around the world where their terrorists operate,” the political analyst said.

As for the importance of those arms deals for Belarus, Satanovsky said: “For Minsk it is business, first and foremost. However, I’d like to spotlight the statement by Belarusian media, including the pro-governmental ones, saying, for instance, that the Russian Defense Ministry's reports on the oil channels of IS in Turkey do not correspond to reality. Nothing of the kind could be published in Belarus without the consent of Alexander Lukashenko. Such reports give thought to our Union State with Belarus,” Satanovsky said.

In response to EADaily’s question about what Russia should do in such situation, the analyst recommended addressing these questions to the president of Russia: “These issues are beyond my salary. I do not decide anything here, so I am not ready to think over such questions. It is the minister of foreign affairs and the president of the Russian Federation who should think of it,” he said.

EADaily reported earlier that Belarus actively supports Ukraine in modernizing and repairing military hardware, including warplanes and helicopters. Besides, Minsk supplies dual-purpose products to Kiev and is the key exporter of diesel to Ukraine.