The head of Russia’s state arms supplier declared Wednesday that Russia will continue to supply weapons to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, even as new U.N. figures indicate that the death toll in the country’s two-year civil war is approaching 70,000. Russia considers Syria to be inside its sphere of influence and an ally, and two countries have had close ties since the Cold War. Russia maintains a naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartus. Analysts have speculated that Russian-Syrian ties would functionally collapse should opposition forces within Syria overthrow Assad.