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Conflict in Syria

Russian senator: US 'testing our patience' following Syrian jet incident

Earlier, the Defense Ministry stated that Russia would track the US-led coalition’s warplanes and drones west of the Euphrates in Syria after a US warplane had shot down a Syrian jet

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Russia cuts deconfliction channel with Washington after US downs Syrian jet

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry has sent a serious warning to the US by declaring that its air defenses would follow the coalition’s warplanes and drones west of the Euphrates in Syria and suspend the memorandum on preventing flight incidents in Syria’s airspace, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council’s Defense and Security Committee, Frants Klintsevich, said.

"The Americans are testing our patience. The statement made by our military is correct and hard-hitting. This is a very serious warning," he stressed.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that Russia’s defenses would track the US-led coalition’s warplanes and drones west of the Euphrates in Syria after a US warplane had shot down a Syrian Su-22 fighter jet. Besides, the ministry reported that, starting from June 19, Russia would suspend the memorandum on preventing flight incidents and air safety support during military operations in Syria that had been signed previously with the US. These steps followed the coalition’s decision to shoot down the Syrian warplane near Raqqa.

According to the senator, the US undervalues the Russian military’s potential and, thus, is behaving in a provocative way in Syria. "Our military did the right thing: we will put targets under control if any there appear. No one said we will shoot them down," he added. Upon that, Klintsevich did not rule out that if the coalition’s craft "poses any danger across the specified line, it will be eliminated.".

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Foreign policy Syrian conflict

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