Syria Negotiating Missile Systems From Russia For Defense Against Tomahawk-like Attacks

Syria is negotiating to buy missile defense systems from Russia to defend itself agaist Israeli and American attacks.

“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,” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an interview to Venezuelan channel Telesur. The interview was published on Syrian Arab News Agency Thursday.

“That has become a real possibility after the recent American aggression on al-Shayrat airbase in Syria. Israel has been committing aggressions on the Arab states surrounding it since its creation in 1948,” Assad added.

The US launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Syrian government airfield April 6, this year evening as retaliation to April 5’s deadly chemical attack by the Bashar al-Assad regime in a rebel-held area.

Russia suspended a 2015 agreement aimed at avoiding mid-air collisions in the Syrian airspace after US launched missile strikes against the Syrian Shayrat army airbase and also said that it would beef up Syrian defences.

“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,” Russian defense spokesperson Igor Konashenkov was quoted as saying by Press TV, a day after the attacks.

Last Saturday too, Viktor Ozerov, the chairman of the defense committee in the Federation Council, said Moscow would not hesitate to supply Damascus with the air defense missile systems it needs to protect war-ravaged Syria against any future foreign military aggression once a bilateral agreement is reached.