Russia Deputy FM: S-300 to Confine Foreign Intervention in Syria

Local Editor

Russia's delivery of S-300 air defense systems to Syria is a restraining factor against possible foreign interference in the Syrian conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated on Tuesday.

"We believe such steps are to a great extent restraining some ‘hot heads' from considering scenarios in which the conflict may assume an international scale with the participation of outside forces," Ryabkov added.

Ryabkov reiterated that Russia is merely honoring previously-concluded agreements with Damascus by supplying S-300 systems to Syria.

He further stressed that the systems are solely for defense purposes against airborne threats and cannot be used against civilians.

Russia declared that the deliveries are legal under international law and that it is not supplying Syria with offensive weapons.

S-300 is one of the world's most advanced air defense systems.

"An S-300 battery would provide coverage of much of northern and central Israel if deployed in the south west of Syria for targets other than those at low altitude," Douglas Barrie, an air warfare analyst for International Institute of Strategic Studies, told RIA Novosti News Agency.

Source: News Agencies, edited by website team