Russia reportedly sending Palestinians armored vehicles

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Russia's foreign minister is reportedly saying the country will soon deliver 50 armored vehicles to the Palestinian Authority. The Interfax news agency quoted Sergey Lavrov as saying Monday that Russia would provide the Palestinians the vehicles "in the very near future." He spoke during a flight to Spain from Egypt, where he met with other leaders from the Quartet seeking Mideast peace - the United States, Russia, the United Nations and European Union. He appeared to be referring to armored vehicles Russia offered in 2005 to help the Palestinian leadership maintain order. Israel balked at the idea at the time, fearing the vehicles could fall into the hands of Hamas. It later gave authorization for armored vehicles to be shipped.