Syrian President Bashar al-Assad might be hoping to capitalize

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad might be hoping to capitalize on Moscow's current diplomatic isolation to expand military cooperation with Russia as he meets with President Dmitry Medvedev in Sochi on Thursday.

But even though a defiant Kremlin might be taking some perverse pleasure in welcoming the leader of what the United States has branded a "rogue state" at a time when some voices in the West suggest that Russia is on its own way to pariah status, analysts said it was unlikely that any significant arms deals would be signed.

In interviews given to Russian media ahead of his visit, Assad said he hoped to speed up bilateral military cooperation.

"Arms purchases are very important," Assad said in an interview published Wednesday in Kommersant.

Analysts said any significant new deals with Damascus, already the fourth-largest purchaser of the Russian arms, are unlikely, as Russia will want to be careful not to upset Israel, with which its relations have moderately improved as of late.

At the same time, when Russia's ties with the West perhaps at their lowest since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow could be looking for any international support it can get.