Russian Federation is supplying weapons to ‘the legitimate authorities’ of Syria

During the talk Putin seemed to offer a thinly veiled warning to Turkey when he said that any groups threatening the Russian military in Syria “must be immediately destroyed”.

But Defence Minister Michael Fallon dismissed Putin’s statements, claiming Moscow has to play a more constructive role in the political transition in Syria.

The Kremlin claims the airstrikes are aimed at supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against Daesh but North Atlantic Treaty Organisation believes Russian Federation is targeting opposition groups – which include those backed by the U.S.-led coalition.

He said Friday at a meeting with top military brass that the Russian military base in Syria has been beefed up with additional aircraft and air defense weapons.

“We have provided air support for them as well as the Syrian army and also supplied them with weapons, ammunition and supplies”, Putin said.

“I want to warn those who may again try to stage provocations against our troops”, he said. Some Western governments have accused Russian Federation of striking opposition groups instead of the Islamic State – helping Assad under the pretense of fighting terrorism, the AP reports.

“Russia supplies weapons to the legitimate authorities of the Syrian Arab Republic”, Peskov told reporters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday called on Russian Federation for calm, but said Turkey’s patience is not unlimited.

A Russian pilot was killed in the downing of the Su-24 bomber, as was a marine sent on a rescue mission, badly damaging the normally close ties between Ankara and Moscow.

Shoigu said Russian warplanes have flown 4,000 combat sorties in Syria since the launch of the air campaign there, destroying 8,000 “terrorist” targets.

He added that Russian Federation helped restore a tank fix factory in the Syrian province of Homs, which he said is now working at full scale.

Putin said strikes by Russia’s air force and navy had inflicted heavy damage on the infrastructure of Islamic State, which controls large areas of eastern Syria and western Iraq.