MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Russia will provide to China the first batch of four Sukhoi-35 jets by December 25, 2016, a source within the system of military-technical cooperation with other countries told TASS.

"The first four Sukhoi-35 are to fly over to China by December 25," the source said.

Originally the deliveries were to begin as of next year, but eventually a decision was made to speed up the process and to provide the first batch in the last days of the outgoing year.

In November, the deputy chief of the federal service for military-technical cooperation, Vladimir Drozhzhov, told TASS that Russia had started acting on the first phase of its contractual liabilities to China to provide the Sukhoi-35 jets.