Russia Says No Reason Not to Supply S-300 Missiles to Syria
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - US military strikes on Syria last week removed any moral obligation Russia had to withhold S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems from its ally, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.
Lavrov was also quoted by according to RIA state news agency as saying that, prior to the US strikes on Syrian targets, Russia had told US officials which areas of Syria represented "red lines" for Moscow, and the US military action did not cross those lines.
He said that he was convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump would not allow an armed confrontation between their two countries, RIA reported.
The United States and European allies launched airstrikes on April 14 against Syrian research, storage and military targets under the pretext of a suspected chemical attack near Damascus last weekend that killed more than 40 people.
Britain and France joined the United States in the strikes in a coordinated operation that was intended to show Western resolve in the face of what the leaders of the three nations called persistent violations of international law.
