Russian fighter jet approached US aircraft to identify it, officials said
The U.S. and Russia engaged in talks Thursday to avoid crashes or other dangerous incidents over Syrian airspace, according to Russian officials, after the US said the two nations' fighter jets came within close reach over the weekend, Fox News reported.
The two sides are making progress, U.S. and Russian officials say.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a Russian defense ministry spokesman, said the jets came within 2 or 3 kilometers (1.2 to 1.8 miles) from the U.S. plane on Saturday, “not to intimidate, but to identify the object.” U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren described the distance apart as "miles," but did not clarify.
A senior U.S. military official told the Journal that the latest rounds of talks were inching close to a “memorandum of understanding” on how to stay out of each other’s way.
The official reportedly said a formal agreement could come within the coming days, but could just be a reiteration of a non-written agreement that both sides stay away from each other.
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