MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. Russia has been conducting long-term cooperation with Syria in defense technologies and will continue doing it, Maria Zakharova, the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry told a news briefing on Thursday.
"Russia is supplying some types of weaponry to Syria in strict compliance with bilateral contracts with the legitimate Syrian government and it doesn't violate international legal norms in any way," she said. "The maintenance of an appropriate level of the Syrian Army's combat capability means first and foremost our contribution to the struggle with terrorists and extremists seeking to destroy that country."
Zakharova recalled that the extremists had far more ambitious plans than Syria’s full subjugation.
"We are not making any secret of our cooperation with Damascus in defense and related technologies," she said. "The media campaign that has been unfolded and that contains expressions of concern over the Russian supplies or the airlifting of cargoes there gets halted by a simple fact, namely, that we have been cooperating with Syria in defence technologies, since it is a member-state of the UN, and we’ll continue this cooperation."
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"We have agreements with it and obligations to it and we’re fulfilling them," Zakharova said.
She called attention to the absence of whatever arms embargoes against Syria, adding: "And if separate countries or associations of countries have passed any such decisions, it’s their problem because there are not legitimate embargoes on the supplies of weaponry to Syria."
"That’s why we’ll continue fulfilling all our obligations before that country in terms of defence technologies," Zakharova said.
One more thing she focused attention on was Russia’s persistent appeals to the international community to support Damascus in its struggle with international terrorism.
"Notions like Isis appeared in the international mass media vocabulary quite recently and it was Russia that kept speaking about and convincing others that terrorists were operating on the Syrian territory and struggle with them was in full swing there," Zakharova said.