Putin tells Assad will give Syria S-300 air defence system: Syrian presidency

FILE PHOTO: An S-300 air defense missile system launches a missile during the Keys to the Sky competition at the International Army Games 2017 at the Ashuluk shooting range outside Astrakhan, Russia August 5, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that Moscow would supply its ally with an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, Assad's office said.

"President Putin ... informed President Assad that Russian will develop the Syrian air defence systems," the Syrian presidency said in a statement.

(Reporting by Ellen Francis; Editing by Alison Williams)