BEIRUT, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah lawmaker Nawaf Moussawi has said that Lebanon cannot strengthen its army if it relies on the military aid of only one foreign country, or the United States, the Al-Akhbar newspaper reported Saturday.
"We are the first people to say that the Lebanese army must be strengthened... those who really care about the Lebanese army should provide it with radars to face Israeli constant violations of Lebanon's airspace in addition to weapons to create defense balance with the enemy," Moussawi was quoted as saying during a meeting of the parliamentary committees.
The lawmaker was referring to the repeated airstrikes on targets inside Syria launched by Israeli military planes which violated Lebanon's airspace.
Moussawi said that Russia has voiced on several occasions its readiness to supply the Lebanese army with the needed weapons, while Iran, which supports Hezbollah, is also capable of suppling the Lebanese army with affordable military equipment.
The United States is the biggest provider of military aid to Lebanon, as the Lebanese army has received a total of 1.5 U.S. billion dollars in military aid from successive American administrations since the 2006 war with Israel.
Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin announced less than a week ago that Russia will sign a new military cooperation agreement with Lebanon once the new government in Lebanon is formed.
Late in 2018, Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri issued a statement confirming that Lebanon will accept Russia's military aid including millions of Kalashnikov bullets.
During his visit to Moscow in September 2017, Hariri called for Russian support to the Lebanese army as part of increasing the cooperation between the two countries.
