Igor Belyaev: “If America Strikes Syria And Russian Victims Fall, We Will Respond Strongly”

The Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Algeria, His Excellency, Mr. Igor Belyaev, stressed that the relations between his country and Algeria are strong and distinct in the political sphere, but the Russian diplomat acknowledged the existence of some “coolness” notably on the bilateral economic side.
Ambassador Igor Belyaev stated in an exclusive interview with “Echorouk” that Moscow provides the best types of weapons to the Algerian ANP Army, and outlined his country’s positions on the latest developments unfolding in conflict-torn Syria, saying that Russia does not rule out a military confrontation with the “American rival”.
In a different context, he denied any role of his country in the recent poisoning of the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain, as purported by London.
Mr. Belyaev further condemned the approach taken by the West towards Arab countries under the name of the so-called “the Arab Spring” and said that it destroyed countries such as Yemen, Syria and Libya.
The senior Russian diplomat also denied that his country stands in favor of Libyan Marshall Khalifa Hafer and confirmed that his country supports UN Security Council resolutions regarding the Western Sahara issue, as well as Iran’s right to acquire peaceful nuclear energy.

Just months ago, as you took over your duties as Ambassador of Russia to Algeria, how do you describe now the reality of the relations between the

two countries? What are the primary files to be addressed by the two sides?

During this period, bilateral relations have developed significantly as a result of the visits of senior officials in the political, economic, commercial and humanitarian fields, with Russian officials travelling to Algeria and senior Algerian officials visiting Russia as well.
In this regard, we recall Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev’s official visit to Algeria last October, as well as that of Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel to Russia. Algeria was also visited by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council. During the visits of the Russian politicians, the latter were received by senior officials in Algeria, headed by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The results of these visits were important as they pushed the relations forward concerning the most important files that we are working on notably the enhancement of bilateral relations on the industrial side to a higher level, as well ensuring an an increase in the economic and trade exchanges.
Relations on the political plan between the two friendly countries have developed, but on the other side, you referred to the economic and trade aspects as very weak, we do not notice however much activity on the part of Russia, we may exclude Gazprom activities for that matter, so for

instance Algerian agricultural exports, according to you, are somewhat weak?

I agree with this analysis, but there are objective reasons that slow down the development of trade exchanges between us, the main reason is that the economic structure of Russia and Algeria are similar, incomplete, and we rely on oil and gas, so it is difficult to develop intra-trade, in addition to the geographical distance between Russia and Algeria which is strategically located in North Africa and nested in the European continent and half in the Horn of Africa, so the bulk of trade is rather carried out with your neighbors in the European Union, notably with France, Spain and Italy.

You talked about the geographical dimension, but this did not prevent China, which is very far from us from being Algeria’s first trading partner?

It is true that China has become a leader in production, Chinese products are not only in Algeria, and they are invading the world. If you enter a supermarket in Russia you will find many Chinese products, but this is a comprehensive situation. In the past years, Russia has made great efforts to develop its agricultural potential and we highly succeeded in this field.
We have produced huge amounts of wheat and we exported them to many countries such as Turkey, Egypt and others. I have no idea if Algeria is buying Russian wheat. I think that the topic was studied during the visit of Prime Minister Medvedev to Algeria, as part of his discussions with Algerian Premier Mr. Ahmed Ouyahia.
We hope that the file will get the officialdom’s attention so as find the possibility to market Russian wheat in Algeria, especially since the Russian wheat’s quality in quite better than other products.
In your talk about oil, the producing countries received a blow in the previous years due to the scathing collapse of oil prices. The price is now hiking

and is exceeding $ 70 a barrel. Is it a fair oil price in your opinion?

This is one of the areas of coordination and cooperation between Russia and Algeria, and we strive to maintain a fair price in the international market, and there is an ongoing dialogue between the Algerian Minister of Energy Mustapha Guitouni and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak, who have met in the past two months, as part of cooperation and coordination between the two countries, both within and outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and we’ll pursue our endeavor until we reach the fair price of an oil barrel, but up to now, we have not reached it.

Is $ 80 dollars a barrel, a fair price?

I think so, but economists and experts versed in the field of oil and gas have a better knowledge about that.
You are one of the most important suppliers of arms in the world, Algeria is one of your most important customers, do you put conditions and

restrictions on supplying the Algerian ANP Army with weapons?

This is one of the most important aspects of cooperation between our two countries, but this cooperation is characterized by some specificities. I cannot provide more details. What can be confirmed is that Algeria gets the best Russian military equipment, and these weapons were used and tested during the operations. We are currently using them in the battlefield in Syria.
The Assad regime is accused of using chemical weapons against civilians in the Douma area. US President Donald Trump threatens to target Syria.

How do you deal with these rapid developments?

We believe that the developments that are taking place are very serious and stoke further the tension not only in Syria, but on the international scene. Those who claim that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons are false claims that have no validity or evidence. They resorted to this warped method a year ago but to no avail.
The same thing, when they claimed that the Syrian regime dropped a bomb containing toxic substances, but after the relevant in-depth investigations, there was no compelling evidence, on the contrary, the investigations conducted by Russia showed that everything that was said on the matter, was planned beforehand meant obviously for disinformation purposes.