The planes carrying the equipment have touched down in the Syrian port city of Latakia, Russia's ambassador to Syria Azamat Kulmukhametov told the RIA Novosti news agency.

"An air bridge has been established to deliver the technology and the equipment necessary for assisting the operation for the removal of the chemical weapons from Syria," he said.

"Today there have been 10 flights to Latakia and this is going to continue," he added.

Kulmukhametov did not give further details. But the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which is overseeing the removal has said Russian armored trucks will help take Syria's chemical weapons out of the country.

A Danish and a Norwegian frigates are waiting in Cyprus to escort Nordic cargo ships to collect the chemicals from Latakia.

The Nordic vessels will take the chemicals to an Italian port, where they will be loaded onto a US ship for destruction.

The US-Russia deal for Syria to surrender its chemical arsenal averted US airstrikes on Syria and created hopes of a wider peace deal to end the Syria conflict.

NJF/NJF