In this photo taken on Thursday, April 6, 2017, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks with The Associated Press in Moscow, Russia in Moscow, Russia. Syria has aging Soviet-built aircraft and air defense missile systems, while Russia has deployed dozens of its cutting edge warplanes and air defense batteries at its base in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia. It also has a strategically important naval outpost in the Syrian port of Tartus, which is protected by air defense assets. Further upping the ante, the Russian Defense Ministry said it will now help strengthen Syrian air defenses. U.S. officials accused Russia of failing to ensure Syrian President Bashar Assad’s commitment to a 2013 deal for the destruction of Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal.

Source: Washington Post April 07, 2017 13:20 UTC