It is highly unlikely that the IAF would engage Russian fighters due to the obvious diplomatic implications of such a combat. “This is something very important for Israel’s security”.
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“Perhaps, there have been some shifts from this point of view”, the Russian deputy foreign minister said.
Russia’s drone operations appeared to be staged out of an air base near Latakia, where it has moved other heavy military equipment, beyond fixed-wing aircraft, including helicopter gunships, artillery, tanks and naval infantry forces, officials said.
It’s also about issues that go beyond the civil war and to groups and efforts that threaten more directly.
Iran and Syria are arming Hizbullah with modern weapons, and trying to open a second “terrorist front” on the Golan Heights, while Israel is doing everything to prevent this, Mr Netanyahu said.
“And to achieve that, Israel has required complete air control – master of Syria’s skies to operate when and where it wants – anywhere over the skies of Syria“.
The expanding Russian presence at an airfield near Latakia has sparked concerns in Israel over the potential for accidental entanglements or misunderstandings between Israeli and Russian pilots overflying Syrian territory, which is only 72,000 square-miles in area or roughly the same size as Washington state.
But Putin has claimed that Russia’s actions in the Middle East “have been and always will be very responsible”.
“We all know that the Syrian army and Syria on the whole is in such a state that it can’t even think about opening a second front, as it is more concerned about the survival of its own nationhood”, an online official transcript quoted Putin as saying.
“For the moment, it is the judgement of our military and experts that the level and type represents basically force protection”, Mr Kerry told reporters.
The United States has been at odds with Russian Federation over Syria since the civil war started. At a joint press conference after the meeting Lavrov stated that Turkey and Russian Federation hold different opinions regarding the future of Syrian President al-Assad and that incongruent approaches to the crisis are bound to doom any agreement between the two countries.
The Netanyahu ex-adviser said Israel anxious that Russia’s reinforcement of Assad in the conflict, now in its fifth year, could effectively create an axis between its long-standing enemies, Hezbollah and Iran, and Moscow.
“This is a significant upgrade to Russia’s ability to carry out bombing missions inside Syria”, the USA official said.
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Speaking after the meeting, Kerry said: “Would we welcome Russian help in going against Isil?”
