MOSCOW lambasted the outgoing US administration yesterday for its last-gasp bid to delay victory in Syria by flooding the country with arms.

On Thursday, President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on supplying weapons to “foreign forces, irregular forces, groups or individuals” that the US claims are fighting terrorists in Syria.

The congressional defence funding Bill containing the waiving the restrictions specifies supplying man-portable air defence systems (Manpads) — shoulder launched surface-to air-missiles — to militant groups approved by US spy agencies.

While that would include the Kurdish YPG militia, which enjoys Pentagon backing, it could also mean CIA-sponsored groups that have committed atrocities with US-supplied arms or simply handed them over to al-Qaida and Isis.

Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov said yesterday that the US action was unlikely to alter the course of the war, with a decisive Syrian victory in Aleppo at hand.

“I don’t think this will significantly change the situation in eastern Aleppo, because the rebels are encircled” and cut off from foreign arms shipments, he said.

But he added: “This will affect our talks, as this is yet another peculiarity of US foreign policy concerning Aleppo.”

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned: “Certainly, the worst result of this decision would be those weapons, including Manpads, ending up in the hands of terrorists, which of course poses a serious threat not only for the region but for the entire world.”

Asked whether the US decision could pose a danger to Russian warplanes operating in Syria, Mr Peskov answered: “Definitely.”