Russia says can protect its Syria assets if U.S. carpet bombs

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that Russia had the means to protect its assets in Syria if the United States decided to carpet bomb the Syrian government's military air fields. Lavrov said he had heard that this was one option being advocated by some policy makers in Washington. "This is a very dangerous game given that Russia, being in Syria at the invitation of the legitimate government of this country and having two bases there, has got air defense systems there to protect its assets," Lavrov told Russian state TV's First Channel, according to the text of his interview published on the Foreign Ministry's website. Lavrov, in the same interview, said he was convinced that U.S. President Barack Obama would not agree to such a scenario. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Andrew Osborn)