MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Monday spoke to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad for the first time since last week’s downing of a Russian military plane, telling him of Moscow’s plan to deliver a new S-300 air defense system to the Syrian army.
In the phone call, initiated by Assad, Putin spoke of “additional measures to ensure the safety of Russian troops in Syria and to reinforce the country’s air defense system, which includes the delivery of the modern S-300 systems,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
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