Are Older Men in Thailand Trading Love for Financial Ruin

[rooster59]

Russia Begins missile system delivery to Syria, warns West on peace talks

By John Irish and Michelle Nichols

 

FILE PHOTO: An S-300 air defense missile system launches a missile during the Keys to the Sky competition at the International Army Games 2017 at the Ashuluk shooting range outside Astrakhan, Russia August 5, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

 

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday Moscow had started delivering the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria and warned Western powers of trying to undermine U.N.-led efforts to end the seven-year conflict.

 

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had said on Monday the system would be delivered to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in two weeks despite strong Israeli and United States objections. A week previously, Moscow had accused Israel of indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military jet in Syria.

 

"The delivery started already and as President (Vladimir)Putin said, after that incident ... the measures that we will take will be devoted to ensuring 100 percent safety and security of our men," Lavrov told a news conference at the United Nations.

 

Russia, along with Iran, has helped Assad recover huge amounts of lost territory in Syria without persuading him to agree to any political reforms. It has also pushed its own talks with Iran and Turkey, known as the Astana process, as U.N-led peace negotiations have stalled.

 

Some diplomats have said the Israeli incident and a Turkish Russian deal to suspend an offensive on the last rebel-held stronghold of Idlib could provide a window to push for the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 2254 that covers ending conflict in Syria.

 

The U.N. Security Council, which includes Russia and the United States, has mandated U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura to get a deal on a new constitution, new elections and a reform of Syria's governance.

 

De Mistura's first task is the formation of a constitutional committee to decide whom to pick. He has said he will select about 50 people, including supporters of the government, the opposition and independents to participate, but so far the Syrian government has rejected the idea.

 

Meeting in New York on Thursday, foreign ministers from the United States, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Britain and Saudi Arabia called on de Mistura to convene the constitutional committee and report back on progress by the end of October.

 

Lavrov accused the group of trying to undermine the Astana efforts and putting pressure on de Mistura so that they could impose their own resolution of the conflict, describing it as "a grave mistake."

 

"This is aimed at undermining all that was done at Astana process and not the fact the Syrians decide what country they are going to live in but the architecture agreed on by foreign powers," Lavrov said.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-29

[ezzra]

Cast pearls before swine, that's about the usefulness of the S-300 in the hands of the dufuses and fumbling Syrian army operators, just like they, in their stupidity and incompetence downed the russian surveillance plane, these 40 years old missiles technology won't deter israel's air force from doing its job using it's sophisticated F-35 fighters, Russia and Syria forget that Israel possess other means of rockets and missiles deliveries by land and by sea, just as deadly and just as accurate...  

Edited September 29, 2018 by ezzra

[Topdoc]

I hope Boshirov & Chepiga are not going to be manning the controls!

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

the measures that we will take will be devoted to ensuring 100 percent safety and security of our men,"

In case of an Israeli attack the S-300 MLV will be turned off.

[Nice Boyd]

Looks like Putiny is Angry about the loss of that plane , Their infrastructure can’t take losses like that, 5555

Edited September 29, 2018 by Nice Boyd

[Morch]

The systems in question were more of an issue back when negotiations for their procurement came up. That was years ago, and the IAF had plenty of time do study said systems and even conduct drills against similar ones. Also, there's often some measure of confusion in such reports as to which exact system and which components are supplied. Generally speaking the export versions are inferior to those intended for self-use (for example, the Russian operated system deployed in Syria). As far as I'm aware, certain components (like the missiles and missile launchers) were already supplied and are in use, the current installation's centerpiece being delivery of command and control elements - which make these systems way more effective.

 

So all things considered, its definitely an upgrade as far as Syrian air-defenses go, but not dramatic as it would have been back when. Will it curb Israeli air-raids? Perhaps some, at least initially. Will it be a game changer? probably not.

 

Putin and the Russian military lost face on three fronts, and they are obviously pissed:

 

First, the incident brought to the open Russia's understandings and de-facto cooperation with Israel regarding there air raids. Not that it was a secret, but the sham of ignoring it was a bit easier.

 

Second, the incident exposed both the Syrian air-defense's (equipped and trained by Russia) shortcomings.

 

Third, Russia's own forces didn't come out of this as particularly capable - their plane could have evaded the area, rather than attempt returning to base, and their own superior and self operated system apparently failed to provide an accurate picture of the situation.

 

I don't know that the systems' delivery will be the final episode in the Russia response, but I do doubt that there will be much by way of a direct confrontation with Israel. Pressure will be applied to scale back air raids, but IMO, more on the diplomatic level. Considering this is Russia, I believe that some sort of new understanding will be reached, eventually, which will include certain limitations on future Israeli actions.