MOSCOW (Sputnik) — 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.
Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia has been supporting from the air both Free Syrian Army (FSA) troops and government forces, providing them with weapons, ammunition, and other materials.
"We are talking about the army. Russia is supplying weapons to the Syrian Arab Republic, to the legitimate authorities… Deliveries are made in strict accordance with international law," Peskov told reporters.
Russian jets commenced precision airstrikes against the ISIL terrorist group, which is outlawed in Russia and many other nations, in Syria on September 30 at President Bashar Assad’s request.
FSA is one of the groups labeled a "moderate" opposition faction by the West. Washington trained and equipped the FSA in the hope that they would counter Daesh, but subsequently shut down this program in October after spending almost $500 million dollars without any tangible results.