US Calls on Russia to Stop ‘Irresponsible Behaviour’ in Syria After Drone Hit With Flare

SYDNEY (Reuters) – The U.S. Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday known as on Russia to abide by the legal guidelines of the sky and stop “irresponsible behaviour” when requested about Russian assaults on U.S. drones in Syria.

The U.S. army mentioned a MQ-9 drone over Syria was “severely” broken when it was hit with a flare from a Russian fighter jet earlier this week, the newest in a sequence of shut interactions between Russian and U.S. army plane within the area.

“We name upon the Russian management to ensure that they challenge steerage to their troops to abide by the legal guidelines of the sky and ensure that they stop this irresponsible behaviour,” Austin mentioned, when requested concerning the incident in a information convention in Brisbane, Australia.

Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken are in Australia for the annual Australia-U.S. Ministerial (AUSMIN) dialogue.

“We’ll proceed to have interaction utilizing the established channels to convey our concern and we’ll proceed to have interaction senior management as applicable. However, once more, we are going to proceed to function, as we’ve got all the time operated within the airspaces, and we are going to defend our pursuits and our sources,” mentioned Austin.

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Enhancing by Lincoln Feast.)

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