Russia halts cooperation with US in Syria
(VOVWORLD) - The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that Russia will stop all interactions with the US under the framework on the "memorandum of incident prevention in Syrian skies", after a Syrian Su-22 was downed by a US-led coalition.
 A US F/A-18E Super Hornet (Photo: Reuters) |
The Ministry demands a thorough investigation by the US command with the provision of its results and measures taken. Under the announcement, starting from June 19, any flying objects, including jets and unmanned aerial vehicles of the international coalition discovered west of the Euphrates River will be followed by Russian air and ground defenses as air targets.
The Russian Defense ministry said it considered the downing of the Syrian warplane “a cynical violation of the sovereignty” of Syria, and “a gross violation of international law and, in fact, a military aggression against Syria.” It added that the US-led coalition didn't use the existing communication channels to warn the Russian military before attacking the Syrian aircraft.