Kremlin confirms Russia does not intend to supply S-300 missile systems to Syria
Russia’s refusal to supply S-300 missile systems to Syria is not connected with the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Moscow, as stated by the press secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, while commenting on the statement of Putin’s aide on Military and Technical Cooperation ,Vladimir Kozhin in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia.
"Technically, it is absolutely wrong to link this [Kozhin's words] with Netanyahu's visit, because the interview was given before Netanyahu's visit," the Kremlin spokesman said.
Peskov also recalled that Russia had never announced such supplies, but only stated that, in connection with the attacks by the United States and its allies on Syria, it reserves the right to do everything necessary in this situation.
In an interview published on Friday, Kozhin said that Russia does not supply S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria and that there are no negotiations on such supplies. He added that the Armed Forces of the Syrian Arab Republic "have everything they need".
On April 16, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia was ready to consider all the necessary steps to strengthen the defense capability of Syria, including deliveries of S-300 systems. On April 23, the minister told reporters that the issue of deliveries of S-300 systems to Syria had not yet been resolved, but Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed it with the Russian Defense Ministry "in the context of preventing the Syrian Arab Republic from being adequately prepared for aggressive acts, like the one that took place on April 14”.