President Vladimir Putin has offered to send Russian troops to the Golan Heights to replace the Austrians who are withdrawing from the UN peacekeeping force that monitors the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces.
"Naturally, that will happen only if the regional powers show interest in our proposal and if the UN secretary-general asks us to do that," Putin said, adding that Ban Ki-moon had personally asked him to increase Russia's participation in UN peacekeeping operations during a visit to Russia last month.
Putin's offer was quickly turned down, however, by Josephine Guerrero, spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping department.
She said that while the offer was appreciated, the disengagement agreement and accompanying protocol do not allow the participation of troops from a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that he raised Putin's offer during Security Council consultations on the UN force, known as UNDOF, which has been caught up in the spillover of fighting between government and opposition fighters in Syria, including being the target of three hostage-takings by rebel fighters.
"Obviously we are aware of that document, but we believe that times have changed," Churkin said. "The document was signed 39 years ago at the height of Cold War and the whole context of the war of 1973. Now the context is completely different."
Churkin said council members agreed that Syria and Israel would have to approve a Russian deployment. He added that UN legal experts would also examine whether the council might have to adopt a resolution if the Russian offer moves forward.
The Kremlin said Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed Syria during a telephone conversation yesterday. No details were given.
Russia is a close ally of Syria and Putin would almost certainly not have made the offer without advance approval from its president, Bashar Assad.
Austria announced Thursday that it is withdrawing 377 UN peacekeepers from the Golan Heights after Syrian rebels briefly overran a crossing point near the border with Israel.
Churkin said Russia was prepared to replace the Austrian contingent "quite expeditiously."
The United Nations is urgently looking for troops to replace the Austrians, who made up a sizeable portion of the 911-member peacekeeping force. The Philippines and India also contribute troops.
