Russia can talk tougher with the United States after the destruction by its forces of the Syrian Su-22 warplane, in the area of Raqqa, said the head of the Main Department for International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense (1996-2001), the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, former Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov.
The Ministry of Defense of the Syrian Arab Republic reported the day before that a coalition led by the United States had downed the Su-22 aircraft when it was carrying out a mission against the terrorist organization “Islamic State”. According to the Syrian Ministry of Defense, the pilot has not yet been found. The Syrian military department also said that the destruction of the plane proves that the Americans are coordinating their actions with the IS.
The headquarters of the US-led coalition confirmed that the American fighter had shot down a Syrian plane south of the city of Tabqah. According to the headquarters, on Sunday at 18.43 local time Su-22 of the Syrian Air Force dropped bombs near SDF positions and “in accordance with the rules of self-defense, it was immediately shot down by the American fighter A / 18E Super Hornet.” The headquarters also noted that “immediately after the attack of the Syrian forces, the coalition representatives contacted the Russian partners via telephone through the conflict-reduction channel to de-escalate the situation and stop the attack.”
“It is probably necessary for us (Russia) to have a tougher talk with the Americans, and these agreements on the coordination of military operations are somehow turned into concrete cases. And they just do not react to diplomatic protests – behave impudently, do not entrust themselves and act only in their own interests,” Ivashov said.
He shares the position of the Syrian MoD, stated in the statement about the downed plane. “Indeed, the Americans stood at the source of the creation of this “Islamic state”, at least they condoned it, back in 2000. They did not interfere with the arming of the IS, obtaining financial flows, and therefore they are if not the direct but indirect allies of the IS. Today, IS confronts Russia, the Syrian Arab Republic and Iran as an ally of the United States,” the Colonel-General emphasized.
According to him, the position of US President Donald Trump continues the old military-political line of the country towards Syria and other states of the Middle East region.
“The US does not conduct any real struggle against terrorism,” Ivashov concluded.