US says Russia intentionally violating Syria military agreementCNN 19m ago
Sources: US jets intercept Russians over Syria 01:04
Story highlights
- The Pentagon told CNN: "Russia is failing to genuinely de-conflict airspace in Syria. Some of these incidents are not mistakes"
- Last week Russia denied its planes crossed the de-confliction line
Washington (CNN)The
Pentagon has accused Russia of intentionally violating an agreement
intended to prevent accidents in the skies over Syria, following a
recent unsafe encounter between US F-22s and Russian Su-25 jets.
"Russia
is failing to genuinely de-conflict airspace in Syria. Some of these
incidents are not mistakes," Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Dana W. White
told CNN.
"We are working to address this issue at the highest levels," she added.
The
Pentagon's statement comes just days after Secretary of Defense Jim
Mattis said it was unclear why the Russians were violating the
agreement, which separates Russian and US-led coalition forces operating
in Syria.
"I
don't expect perfection, but I don't expect dangerous maneuvers,
either," Mattis told reporters Friday when asked about the recent
violations of the de-confliction line, suggesting that some of the
violations may have been due to pilot error.
"We'll
sort this out but right now, I cannot tell you if it's sloppy
airmanship, or a rambunctious pilot, or people who are trying to do
something that was very unwise," Mattis said.
The
US military said last week that two US F-22 stealth fighters
intercepted two Russian Su-25 attack jets after the Russian aircraft
crossed the Euphrates River in Syria, flying east of the "de-confliction
line" that is supposed to separate Russian and US-led coalition
aircraft operating over Syria.
"One
Su-25 flew close enough to an F-22A that it had to aggressively
maneuver to avoid a midair collision," US Air Forces Central Command
spokesman Lt. Col. Damien Pickart told CNN last week, saying the US
planes conducted multiple maneuvers, released chaff and flares, and made
"multiple calls on the emergency channel to convey to the Russian
pilots that they needed to depart the area."
The
Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement last week denying its
planes crossed the de-confliction line, saying the incident took place
west of the Euphrates River.
President
Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to continue
to uphold these de-confliction measures in their joint statement issued
on the sidelines of the APEC conference in Da Nang, Vietnam.
The
statement said Trump and Putin "agreed to maintain open military
channels of communication between military professionals to help ensure
the safety of both US and Russian forces and de-confliction of partnered
forces engaged in the fight against ISIS."
The
agreement says that Russian and Syrian regime forces are to operate
west of the Euphrates River while the US and its coalition allies are to
operate to the east. If either side wishes to operate on the other side
of the river, they are supposed to communicate via a hotline that
allows Russian and coalition military officers to talk to each other.
"Since
agreeing to this de-confliction arrangement, the Russians have flown
into our airspace on the east side of the river 6-8 times per day, or
approximately 10% of the Russian and Syrian flights," Pickart said.
But
a spokesman for the US-led coalition fighting ISIS told reporters
Tuesday that Russian jets were flying fewer missions alongside the
Euphrates River, reducing the number of potential interactions between
Russian and US/coalition aircraft.
"In
the last two to three days, there has been a decrease in the presence
along the Middle Euphrates River Valley," Col. Ryan Dillon said while
adding "there has been a decrease in the amount of sorties that they
have flown."
On Thursday, Air
Forces Central Command spokesperson Capt. AnnMarie Annicelli told CNN:
"We have not had an intercept since Dec. 13, 2017. There has been a
marked decrease in incidents between Coalition and Russian Federation
aircraft. This is due in large part to the dialogue from both sides that
has allowed us to voice concerns and seek solutions that de-escalate
tensions."
However,
a US military official told CNN that as recently as Saturday, a Russian
aircraft carried out airstrikes east of the Euphrates River Valley
without informing the coalition via the de-confliction line.
The
breakdown of the effectiveness of the de-confliction line raises
serious questions about the fight against ISIS as coalition officials
have said that ISIS defenders continue to fight in remaining villages
along the Euphrates River Valley while other ISIS fighters have moved
west into areas ostensibly controlled by the Syrian regime.
ISIS
fighters "know if they were to come east of the river that they have to
contend with our partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces. So they would
opt for the easier solution, which is, moving west," Dillon said.
Asked
if US-led coalition forces could strike ISIS fighters further west of
the Euphrates without running afoul of Russian airplanes, Dillon
demurred.
"As
far as going further into the western part, or the interior parts of
the -- of Syria, I'm not prepared and ready to address that," Dillon
said.
Amid these multiple alleged
Russian crossings of the de-confliction boundary, the US military has
expressed concern it might have to shoot down a Russian aircraft over
Syria if the Russian plane is seen as a threat to US or coalition forces
fighting ISIS.
"The greatest
concern is that we could shoot down a Russian aircraft because its
actions are seen as a threat to our air or ground forces," Pickart told
CNN.
No comments:
Post a Comment