Russia halts arms shipments to Syria

A senior Russian official says that Moscow is halting its weapons sales to Syrian authorities until the situation there calms down. Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy chief of the Russian military and technical cooperation agency, told Russian news agencies on the sidelines of the Farnborough airshow south-west off London that Russia is not going to sign any new arms deals with Syria or send any more weapons. He said that so far Russia has been providing Syria's Army with spare parts and assistance in repairs of the weapons supplied earlier. Syrian activists say that about 14,000 people have been killed in an uprising in the country since March 2011. Dzirkaln said that Russia does not sell helicopters or fighter planes to Syria.