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Report: Putin Promises Netanyahu to Stop Delivery of S-300 to Syrian Regime
(Asharq Al-Awsat-UK) Nazir Magally - Russian President Vladimir Putin has informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Moscow would stop the transfer of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to the Syrian army, political sources said. During the meeting in Moscow last Wednesday, Putin also pledged to allow Israel to operate freely in Syria, the sources said. Russia has dispatched advanced S-300 air defense batteries to Syria, but they have yet to be deployed, according to intelligence assessments. On Sunday, Maariv reported that the deal struck between the Russian and Israeli leaders means that the Syrian army would not control the S-300 air defense system, already installed in northern Syria, and would be banned from using it unilaterally against Israeli jets. However, Maariv's military analyst Tal Lev-Ram said that the "Russians would not exert pressure to force the pullout of Iranian forces from Syria."