ISRAEL SETS RED LINE FOR RUSSIA

Israel tells Russia sale of S-300 missile defense system to Assad regime unacceptable

by Nitzan Keidar

Arutz Sheva 7
April 15, 2018

Israel has sent a clear message to Russia in the past 24 hours that the sale of the advanced S-300 missile defense system to the Syrian regime will cross a red line.

A political source who revealed the message in a conversation with Arutz Sheva stated that the message was conveyed following a Russian Defense Ministry announcement that Moscow was reconsidering the sale of arms to the Syrians following the joint attack on Syria by the US, Britain, and France Friday night.

The S-300 system could be a very significant upgrade to Syria's air defense, which is now based mainly on purchases from the former Soviet Union, since no country has ever agreed to sell an advanced system of that kind to the Assad regime before.

It is not clear whether the Israeli message will effect the thinking of Russian Vladimir Putin and his administration. In 2016 Russia renewed the sale of the weapons system to Iran. The deal was signed in 2007 but was frozen following the international sanctions imposed on the Iranians.

The regime of Ayatollahs in Tehran has expressed interest in purchasing the S-400 missile defense system. This more advanced system has not yet been sold to any international actor and remains solely in the hands of the Russian military.

EDITOR’S NOTE FROM ISRAEL TODAY: Israel's warning to Russia, and the possibility that Russia will anyway supply Syria with advanced air defenses, has heightened concerns that the region, and perhaps the world, is on the brink of a major all-out war.