Russia Has Abandoned U.S. Military Agreement Over Syria

Russia is no longer cooperating with the U.S. by keeping to an agreed flight safety protocol over the skies of Syria, according to new analysis The U.S. has accused Russia of abandoning a memorandum of understanding agreement after starting its air campaign in Syria by allowing its warplanes to carry out “simulated attacks” on American jets. The U.S. views the Russian action of sending two Su-24 strike aircraft to within 30ft of one of its destroyers in the Baltic last week as “aggressive” and “unsafe” while Russia views the recent deployment of U.S. combat jets near Syria as a threat. The Telegraph reports: The US and Russia held military-to-military talks last year designed to prevent incidents of this kind from occurring over Syria. The result was a memorandum of understanding last October, stating that all Russian and American jets would stay a safe distance away from one another and communicate in English via recognised radio channels. But a new analysis from Chatham House says that Russia has routinely broken this agreement. While striking the enemies of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on the ground, the Russian air force has also carried out “aggressive and provocative manoeuvres against Western aircraft in Syria,” said Keir Giles, [...]