Russia, Israel ties at stake

• Turkey vows to impose secure zones east of Euphrates in Syria
• Syria jihadists to state position on Idlib deal 'in coming days'

Moscow yesterday announced new security measures to protect its military in Syria, including supplying the Syrian army with a new S-300 air defence system and jamming radars of nearby warplanes following the downing of a Russian plane last week.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that President Vladimir Putin ordered additional security measures after a Syrian Soviet-era S-200 missile shot down the Russian military plane by mistake, killing 15, in an incident last Monday that Moscow blames on Israel.

"This has pushed us to adopt adequate response measures directed at boosting the security of Russian troops" in Syria, Shoigu said in a televised statement.

"(Russia will) transfer the modern S-300 air defence system to the Syrian armed forces within two weeks."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on a conference call that the decision to supply the weapons was "not directed at any third country". "Russia needs to increase safety of its military and it should be clear for everyone," he said.

But he also repeated Moscow's accusations that Israel was to blame for the crash: "No doubt that according to our military experts, deliberate action by Israeli pilots was the reason for the tragedy and this cannot but harm our (Russia-Israeli) ties."

The Syrian military has already been trained to use the system, which was set to be sent over in 2013, but was held up "at the request of Israel," Shoigu said.

"In regions near Syria over the Mediterranean Sea, there will be radio-electronic suppression of satellite navigation, on-board radar systems and communication systems of military aviation attacking objects on Syrian territory," he said.

Moscow says Israeli F-16 planes which struck Latakia in western Syria on September 17 later used the landing Russian Il-20 surveillance plane as "cover," which resulted in the larger Il-20 being hit by a Syrian missile, reported AFP.

Israel regularly carries out strikes in Syria against Assad's government, its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and Iranian targets. An Israeli military delegation travelled to Moscow last week to share information about the incident.

Meanwhile, Erdogan said yesterday Turkey will take action east of the Euphrates river in Syria and impose secure zones as it has done in the northwest of the country, reported Reuters.

The main jihadist group in northwest Syria will announce its position on a Turkish-Russian deal over Idlib in the next few days, it said yesterday, with its acceptance or rejection vital to the success of efforts to contain the war.