"The delivery has been started already. And as President [Vladimir] Putin said, after that incident, the measures which we will take will be devoted to ensure 100 percent safety and security of our men in Syria," said Lavrov at the conference following his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.
By “incident,” Lavrov meant the recent downing of a Russian aircraft by the Syrian air defenses, which both Moscow and Damascus blame on the Israeli regime’s fighter jets.
Israeli fighter jets attacking Syrian military posts misled the country’s air defenses into shooting down the Russian Ilyushin Il-20 reconnaissance plane on September 17, killing all 15 passengers onboard.
Moscow says the Israeli fighter jets were responsible for Syria’s downing of a Russian aircraft as they hid themselves behind it.
Russia says it had suspended the delivery of its S-300 missile defense system for years over concerns raised by Tel Aviv; however, the recent plane crash prompted the Kremlin to press ahead with its earlier plan to deliver the missile system to Syria within two weeks in a bid to boost the country’s air defense capabilities and take “adequate retaliatory measures”.
The US has called Kremlin’s decision a “major mistake.” US National Security Advisor John Bolton recently warned Russia against the decision, advising it against escalating the already high tensions in the Middle East region.
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