U.S. accuses Russia of provoking road accident in Syria
Russia is responsible for a road accident in Syria in which several American servicemen were injured, TASS reported, citing a statement from the head of the press service of the National Security Council at the White House, John Ullyot.
CNN, citing sources, reported that one of the Russian vehicles appeared to have deliberately collided with a U.S. vehicle.
In a statement, Ullyot noted that the actions of the Russian military violate the deconfliction protocols, which were concluded by Russia and the United States in December 2019.
Ullyot also stressed that the U.S. does not seek to escalate tensions with other states in Syria but reserves the right and duty to "protect itself from hostile actions."
According to Ullyot, the incident took place on the morning of August 25 near the town of Al-Malikiyah, located in Al-Hasakah province in the northeast of Syria.
On Wednesday, August 26, the chiefs of the General Staff of Russia and the United States discussed the accident by phone, according to the press secretary of the Russian Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. The details of the conversation were not provided.
The U.S. has previously accused Russia of violating deconfliction agreements. In February, the U.S. Special Representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, mentioned "a number of instances" of the Russian military trying to move further into the areas between the U.S. military and the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria. "These are the "incidents" that bother me," Jeffrey said. At the same time, he acknowledged that the number of such cases is not very large but noted that it is growing.