Russia's operation in Syria is meant to secure its interests there.

We just got the clearest sign yet that Russia doesn't really care about fighting ISIS in Syria

by Natasha Bertrand


Moscow will reportedly provide Russian troops in Syria with an advanced antiaircraft missile system as part of its military support for Syrian president Bashar Assad.

"This system is the advanced version used by Russia, and it's meant to be operated by Russians in Syria," a Western diplomat who is regularly briefed on US, Israeli, and other intelligence assessmentstold Reuters.

And as The Daily Beast's Michael Weiss points out, any antiaircraft missiles deployed by Russian troops in Syria won't be directed at ISIS, since ISIS has no air force.

In fact, none of the rebels do — only government forces have access to aircraft.

Russia has substantially increased its military presence in Syria over the past two weeks under the guise of helping the embattled Assad fight ISIS and other extremists.

And now that US and Russian fighter jets are flying side-by-side — the US has been launching airstrikes against ISIS since mid-2014, and Russian drones and fighter planes are reportedly surveilling non-ISIS rebels in the country's north — Moscow sees it as an opportunity to force Washington to come to the table.

This morning, Putin issued a veiled threat to the US, warning that "unintended incidents" may occur if Washington refuses to restart military-to-military cooperation with Moscow, which was cut off when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

"Well, but now I have fighter jets flying in the same sky. What if they crash into yours? We should talk, no?" Weiss, playing the role of Putin, said on Twitter.

Weiss then implied that Putin could use the antiaircraft missile system as leverage to get the US to operate in Syria on Russia's and Iran's terms.

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Read more: www.businessinsider.com



See Also

• Assad's Devilishly Simple Plan To Bring The West To His Side Against ISIS
• We're reportedly about to see some familiar Russian faces in Syria — and that's trouble
• The US just called out Putin over ISIS as Russian soldiers join the fight in Syria