Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has promised visiting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas 5,000 sub-machine guns, 300 machine guns and 1,000 handguns, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Voice of Israel government radio added that Russia earlier this week also offered two helicopters for the emerging PA army. In addition, the United States is beefing up its training of PA soldiers, who are called "police officers" or "special forces" in order to meet the conditions of a previous agreement that the PA does not man an army.
The weapons cannot be transferred without Israeli approval, but the previous Olmert government agreement already agreed to allow the PA to receive 50 armored personnel carriers from Russia on condition that they be unarmed.
Moscow's influence in the Middle East continues to grow with the new administration of United States President Barack Obama, who received a proposal from his Russian counterpart to visit Russia in July and participate in another international Middle East conference, according to Kommersant.
President Medvedev, while offering new weapons to the PA, said he hopes that work on a "peaceful settlement" will continue. Talks between Israel and the PA have been few and far between since the Israeli government crisis last September and the escalation of terrorist attacks from Gaza that led to a three-week counterterrorist campaign dubbed Operation Cast Lead.
The U.S. has been supervising the training PA forces at an American-funded base in Jericho, but the Hebrew-language Haaretz newspaper reported this week that American officers also are training top security personnel in Ramallah, the headquarters of the PA.
On the diplomatic front, President Obama is sending special envoy George Mitchell to Israel and the PA next week to try to resume talks. However, PA Chairman Abbas has not called to congratulate Binyamin Netanyahu on becoming Prime Minister last week.
Instead, Abbas told the media that he would not consider resuming talks unless Israel stops all construction in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and accepts the goal of establishing a new PA country in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Marwan Barghouti, Avigdor Lieberman: Annapolis is 'Dead'
The Bush administration, as well as Israel, had rejected a Moscow venue for the continuation of the Annapolis, Maryland conference nearly 18 months ago. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman upset the international community as well as his predecessor and Kadima party Opposition leader Tzipi Livni by saying that the idea of Annapolis is a dead issue.
The conference called for the establishment of a PA country as soon as possible. Although castigated for his remarks. Lieberman was not the first person to observe that the Annapolis initiative as history. Marwan Barghouti, considered the leading PA figure and who is serving five life terms in prison for involvement in lethal terrorist attacks, made the same remark a year ago.