Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted that the strike by the United States, France and Britain against Syrian installations had removed any “moral obligations” Russia had to withhold deliveries of its S-300 anti-aircraft missiles system from its Syrian ally. “We now have no moral obligations. We had moral obligations, we had promised not to do it (Provide Damascus S-300) some 10 years ago, I think, upon the request of our known partners and we brought to their attention their argument that this might lead to the destabilization of the situation, even though the resource is purely defensive in nature, we nevertheless gave in to these requests and now we have no such moral obligation,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
The decision by Russia to weigh the option of supplying Syria with its advanced S-300 surface-to-air systems came after the U.S., France and Britain launched 105 missiles last week in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack by government forces on a rebel-held area near Damascus. According to military analysts, the S-300 surface-to-air missile system would improve Russia’s ability to control air space in Syria, where Moscow’s forces support the government of President Bashar al-Assad and could be aimed at deterring future military actions by the West. The move is also perceived in Jerusalem as a signal to Israel, warning it not to go too far in its attacks against the Assad regime and Iran.