Putin vows ‘very tough’ action on Syria threats

Moscow supplies weapons to the Syrian legitimate leadership to defeat the Islamic State (ISIL, or Daesh in Arabic) jihadist group operating in the region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

Asked to comment on Putin’s claim, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said that “it’s unclear to us also, whether these – these claims of support for the FSA are true”.

“Now several of its units numbering over 5,000 troops are engaged in offensive actions against terrorists, alongside regular forces, in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Aleppo and Raqqa”, he said, referring to the Free Syrian Army.

“Dialogue is maintained and contacts are conducted with certain representatives [of the moderate opposition – TASS]”, Peskov noted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov at a meeting with top military officials in the National Defense Control Center in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.

Russian air strikes have targeted a number of FSA groups in western Syria, notably factions that have received military support from Assad’s foreign enemies, including anti-tank missiles.

Moscow is a close ally of President Bashar al-Assad but also, with Washington, a key sponsor of the UN-led effort to negotiate a ceasefire in Syria’s civil war.

“I want to warn anyone who might again try to organise a provocation against our troops … any targets threatening the Russian air grouping or our land infrastructure should be immediately destroyed”, Putin said.

The prohibition, which applies to both personnel and military academy students, was described as a “precautionary measure after the Russian warplane, which violated (Turkey’s) borders, was downed in accordance with the rules of engagement”, Anatolia news agency said.

Western officials and observers have questioned Russia’s sincerity in fighting the Islamic State, insisting that the majority of Russian strikes are focused on other rebel groups that have taken arms against Assad and the remnants of the Alewite regime in Domascus.

The president said Russia’s operation in Syria was not directed by “geopolitical interests, or any desire to test new weapons”, but out of direct threat from the IS. He said the Russian military base in Syria has been beefed up with additional aircraft and air defense weapons.

“I order to act very tough”.

It is known that more than 60,000 people are fighting alongside the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Turkey’s foreign minister says his country is refraining from responding to Russian efforts to hit back at Turkey over its downing of a Russian jet, but says the country’s patience is not without limits. That being said, he did not clarify the situation about the supplies to the Free Syrian Army.