US Special Envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey, said that delivering S-300 systems to the Syrian military increases the likelihood of recurring mistakes, such as the incident involving the Russian aircraft Il-20.
"Let us remember the tragedy when the Syrian Army mistakenly overturned a Russian aircraft," the diplomat told Ria Novosti and the Kommersant newspaper.
"Deliveries of S-300 systems will make the Syrian Armed Forces more likely to make similar mistakes in the future, so we urge Russia to act with extreme caution on this issue."
In recent months, relations between Russia and Israel are not having their best moments.
On 17 September, a Russian reconnaissance aircraft IL-20 was mistakenly shot down by the Syrian air defense, during an attack of Israeli warplanes against Latakia. The 15 crew of the Russian airplane died.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that Israeli warplanes had used the Il-20 as a shield, exposing the Russian aircraft to the fire of Syria's air defense system. Israel rejected the charge, assigning responsibility to Damascus, Tehran and the Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah movement.
Following the incident, Russia started supplying S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria, despite Israel's protests.
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