Russia’s chief arms exporter mentioned Friday that his company was shipping advanced defensive missile systems to Syria that could be used to shoot down airplanes or sink ships if the United States or other nations try to intervene to halt the country’s spiral of violence.
“I would like to say these mechanisms are really a good means of defense, a trustworthy defense against attacks from the air or sea,” Anatoly P. Isaykin, the common director of the business, Rosoboronexport, stated Friday in an interview. “This is not a threat, but whoever is preparing an attack should believe about this.”
As the weapons systems are not regarded as cutting edge, Mr. Isaykin’s disclosures carried greater symbolic import than military significance. They contributed to a cold war chill that has been settling over relations between Washington and Moscow ahead a meeting between President Obama and President Vladimir V. Putin, their first, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit meeting in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos subsequent week.
( via thenews.com.pk )