Syria conflict: Russia sends missile system to Tartus base
Syria's war
Russia has confirmed it has sent an S-300 air defence missile
system to its naval base in Syria's port of Tartus.
Defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the purpose of
the system was to guarantee the security of the base from the air.
The move comes amid growing tension with the West. On Monday,
the US halted talks with Russia on trying to co-ordinate air strikes against
jihadists.
A ceasefire brokered by Washington and Moscow collapsed last
month.
"Let me remind you that the S-300 is a purely defensive
system and poses no threat to anyone," Maj-Gen Konashenkov said.
"It is unclear why the deployment of the S-300 caused such
alarm among our Western partners."
The spokesman said the system was similar to one earlier
deployed at sea on the cruiser Moskva.
Analysis: Jonathan Marcus, BBC
defence and diplomatic correspondent
The deployment of S-300 surface-to-air missiles (known to Nato
as the SA-23) to Russia's naval base at Tartus is the first time this system
has been deployed outside Russian territory. It joins another sophisticated
anti-aircraft system, the S-400, already in place at the Russian air base near
Latakia.
The S-300 is highly mobile - its radars, launchers and command
systems carried on a number of tracked vehicles. It is one of the most lethal
area defence systems ever developed intended to engage aircraft, cruise and
ballistic missiles.
Its deployment indicates that Russia is significantly bolstering
its air defences in Syria. This is a clear signal to Washington that there
would be a heavy price to pay should the US be tempted to intervene in some way
against Russian or Syrian operations.
How the S-300 missile system
works
Fox News reported earlier quoting unnamed US
officials that the system had been deployed at the weekend.
In addition to the Tartus naval base, Russia uses the Hmeimim
air base near the Syrian coastal city of Latakia.
Last year, Moscow deployed the more advanced S-400 system there
as it began conducting air strikes in Syria.
On Monday, the US said it was
suspending talks with Russia over Syria, accusing Moscow of having "failed to live up" to its
commitments under the ceasefire deal.
Washington blamed Russia and the Syrian government for
intensifying attacks against civilians, including rebel-held areas in eastern
Aleppo.
State department spokesman John Kirby said Moscow and Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's troops had been "targeting critical
infrastructure such as hospitals and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching
civilians in need, including through the 19 September attack on a humanitarian
aid convoy".
Moscow strongly denies involvement of its own or Syrian planes
in the deadly aid convoy strike, and says the incident was caused by fire on
the ground and not by an air strike.
Hundreds of people, including children, have died since
government forces launched an offensive to take full control of Aleppo after
the week-long truce lapsed.
Responding to the suspension of the talks, Russia said it
regretted the US move, accusing Washington of trying to shift blame for the
collapse of the ceasefire.
"Washington simply did not fulfil the key condition of the
agreement to improve the humanitarian condition around Aleppo," Russian
foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
She also said that the US had failed to divide jihadist groups
in Syria from the moderate opposition.
Russia and the US were due to convene in Geneva to try to
co-ordinate air strikes against jihadist groups, but American officials were
told to return home.
The US also said that it would withdraw personnel "that had
been dispatched in anticipation of the possible establishment of the Joint
(US-Russian) Implementation Centre".
However, the two sides would keep talking about
counter-terrorism operations in Syria to avoid unnecessary clashes.
Opinion
This articles tells me that there is no one to trust. The US
and Russia blame the broken ceasefire at each other and this wouldn’t change
anything to good. I think that blaming things on other people or countries
wouldn’t solve any problem but I think that it would be better to go on with
the problem and find a way to solve it. Also the Russians puts missile systems
in Tartus which creates tension between the US and them. The US don’t really
want the civilians to be involved in the disaster but Russia fails to achieve
that and this also degrades their relations. I think that the author is biased
against Russia. The author disrepute Russia for what they have done like
putting missile systems. It is not a bad thing to put it in Syria for
protection but I think that they should have talked more to the US about it. The
author is also trying to inform people around the world about Russia and also
the problems in Syria (attacks and melees).
