SYRIA TO GET S300 MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM FROM RUSSIA

Russia announced on Monday it will supply an S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria in two weeks despite strong Israeli objections, a week after Moscow blamed Israel for indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military plane in Syria.

The White House said it hoped Russia would reconsider the move, which US National Security Adviser John Bolton called a “significant escalation” of the seven-year war.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had in the past obliged Israel by refraining to supply Syria with the system. But last week’s crash, which killed 15 Russian service members, had forced Russia to take “adequate retaliatory measures” to keep its troops safe.

President Vladimir Putin discussed the decision by phone on Monday with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Kremlin said.

Russia, which fights in Syria to support the government, has said Syria shot the IL-20 surveillance plane down by mistake shortly after Israeli jets hit a nearby target. Moscow blamed Israel for creating dangerous conditions that caused the crash.

Israel, which has struck Syria scores of times during the war, said after the incident that it would work to improve “deconfliction” of its missions with Russian forces, but would not halt them. It has long lobbied Moscow not to provide the S-300 to Syria, fearing this would hinder its aerial capability to strike buildups of Iranian and Hezbollah forces in Syria.