Syria in talks to buy Russian air defense systems: Assad
Syria says it is negotiating with Russia to buy state-of-the-art Russian missile defense systems to help defend the Arab country against Israeli and American aggression.
President Bashar al-Assad made the remarks to Venezuelan channel Telesur. A transcript of the interview appeared on the official Syrian Arab News Agency on Thursday.
“It’s natural that we should have such systems,” said the Syrian leader. “Israel has been committing aggressions on the Arab states surrounding it since its creation in 1948,”he said.
He made the comments Zionist entity struck an area near the International Airport in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Assad also said, “It is natural for us to negotiate with the Russians now with a view to strengthening (our) systems, whether to face any Israeli threats from the air or the threats of American missiles.”
“That has become a real possibility after the recent American aggression on al-Shayrat airbase in Syria,” he added.
The US attack southeast of the western Syria city of Homs in early April saw a barrage of 59 Tomahawk missiles launched against the Shayrat Airfield in the western Syrian province of Homs, causing some 15 fatalities, including civilians.
Russia’s military said a day after the attack that Syria's air defenses would be boosted.
“To protect Syria's most sensitive infrastructure, a complex of measures will be implemented in the near future to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces’ air defense system,” said spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
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