Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, has called on world powers to help arm the Syrian army, saying it was the most efficient force against Islamic State.

The US and Nato have raised concerns over Russia’s military buildup in Syria since they see the president, Bashar al-Assad, as the cause of the Syrian crisis, which has claimed more than 250,000 lives over four years. Moscow, meanwhile, has sought to cast arms supplies to Assad’s government as part of international efforts to combat Isis militants.

The increased Russian activity reflects Moscow’s concern that its longtime ally is on the brink of collapse, as well as hopes by the president, Vladimir Putin, that a common battle against Isis can improve Russia’s ties with the west, which have been strained over Ukraine.

Lavrov said in Moscow that Russia would continue to supply Assad with weapons and called on other countries to help the Syrian government and its ground troops.

“You cannot defeat Islamic State with airstrikes only,” Lavrov said. “It’s necessary to cooperate with ground troops and the Syrian army is the most efficient and powerful ground force to fight the Islamic State.”



Lavrov insisted that by sending weapons to Syria, Russia was not propping up Assad but was contributing to defeating Isis fighters.



“I can only say once again that our servicemen and military experts are there to service Russian military hardware, to assist the Syrian army in using this hardware,” he said at a news conference in Moscow. “And we will continue to supply it to the Syrian government in order to ensure its proper combat readiness in its fight against terrorism.”