Russia said that the United States has been assisting and coordinating the delivery of weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, to the armed groups in Syria.

Russia said that the United States has been assisting and coordinating the delivery of weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, to the armed groups in Syria.

 The United States does not supply Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents with man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) but provides coordination and logistics support to such supplies, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

“True, the US does not supply MANPADS to militants in Syria,” ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

“At the same time, it is also well known that Washington is in the know of supplies of various types of armaments to illegal armed formations operating in Syria.”

“Moreover, the United States, judging by the acknowledgements of American officials published by US media, provides coordination and logistics support to such deliveries,” Lukashevich said.

Lukashevich was commenting on Russian General Staff Chief Nikolai Makarov’s statement and Washington’s reaction to it. Makarov said on Wednesday that Syrian insurgents fighting President Assad's government are now armed with MANPADS including US-made Stingers - a claim the US denied.

Lukashevich said Russia’s position from the crisis in Syria remains unchanged.
Meanwhile, the US State Department on Thursday denied that the country was coordinating weapons deliveries to militants in Syria.