Russia is strengthening her alliance in the Middle East and equipping the Lebanese army. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that this support for Lebanon came with no strings attached.
Let's bring in some heavy hardware...
Russia will press ahead with modernising the Lebanese armed forces and internal security forces: so said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday at a meeting of the Lebanon Support Group, according to news agency TASS. "We lend unconditional support to the people of Lebanon against terrorist and extremist groups like IS and Jabhat al-Nusra (...). We confirm our readiness to further strengthen the combat potential of the Lebanese armed forces in their fight against terrorism. (...) We have recently signed subsidiary agreements concerning the delivery of special equipment to the Lebanon", the Times of Israel quoted Lavrov as saying.
The Russian Foreign Minister went on to say that Russia shared the concerns of the Lebanese about the growing influence of the 1.5 million Syrian refugees in that country. In the course of Wednesday night/Thursday morning, Russia began the bombardment of IS positions in Syria. According to the Russian foreign ministry, a total of eight IS positions were hit. While the US Military above all seeks to portray the Russians as aggressors, Putin had obviously secured support from Israel in advance. Jerusalem confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that they have been informed of the first Russian air-strikes
Comment: Russia is making good on its promise to support legitimate governments. Lebanon has also suffered from the scourge of ISIS, though not as directly as Syria has.