Russia: US weapons support for Syrian opposition is counterproductive

(Baonghean.vn) - 'Any attempt by Washington to provide man-portable air defense missile systems (MANPADS) to the Syrian opposition will be completely counterproductive,' Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on September 30.

Illustration: Sputnik.

Earlier the same day, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said that the US supports the opposition in Syria but refused to say whether Washington would provide additional weapons to these opposition groups.

“I think this would be a completely counterproductive approach,” Deputy Minister Bogdanov said in an interview with RT television about recent reports that Washington may be considering supplying advanced weapons to the Syrian opposition, including air defense missile systems.

“In the end, these people (Syrian rebels) have been trained and armed with American weapons, and they will probably do the same things they did on September 11, 2001 in New York,” Deputy Minister Bogdanov stressed.

He also added that this action could become a great danger, especially to both Russian and American aircraft.

“This action is very dangerous, because today they may shoot down a Syrian government plane, but tomorrow they will shoot down our plane and also the American plane,” the Russian diplomat said.

Syria has been mired in a civil war since 2011, with forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad's government on one side and opposition factions and Islamist extremist groups on the other.

The US has been supporting the so-called “moderate” opposition forces in Syria, while Russia has been supporting the legitimate Syrian government.

Khang Duy

(According to Sputnik)