The U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia on Tuesday to avoid conflicts in the air over Syria, though it’s unclear what the consequences will be if Russia violates the agreement.
The memorandum, which officials from both countries have been discussing for weeks, puts in place safety protocols such as requiring professional flying at all times, using specific frequencies for communication and establishing a communications line on the ground, said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook. It does not require any targeting or intelligence sharing between the Russians and U.S.
Asked what the U.S. response would be if Russia violates the agreement, Cook said the U.S. would “raise concerns” and “take it from there.”
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U.S. jets have had multiple run-ins with Russian aircraft since the Russians began airstrikes over Syria, though only one has forced a U.S. aircraft to change its course to avoid an incident, said Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve.
In one incident last week, aircraft from the two countries came within 500 feet of each other, CNN reported.
Russia has mainly struck rebel groups fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, despite publicly stating that they would be striking the Islamic State. Because of this contradiction, reporters asked Cook if the Russians could be trusted to uphold the recently signed memorandum.
“The fact we’ve had to resort to a memorandum of understanding here to try and work out what should be standard protocol over Syria, it gives you an indication of our concern about Russia’s activities,” Cook said.
The memo protects manned aircraft and drones from all members of the coalition fighting the Islamic State in Syria, Cook said.
He declined to say if the memorandum lists specific distances to ensure Russian and coalition pilots understand how far they need to stay away from each other.
“Our crews know exactly what a safe distance is,” he said.
Cook said there had been no incidents since Friday, when much of the language in the memorandum was finalized.
The Pentagon is not releasing the full text of the memo at the request of the Russians, Cook said.
Asked if U.S. pilots could fire on Russian aircraft that threatened them, Cook said “aircrews always have the right to defend themselves,” but that this memo would hopefully prevent the situation from escalating to that point.
