Syria airstrikes: Russia to suspend airspace deal with US
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Russia announced Friday that it will suspend a deal it made with the United States in 2015 to prevent a mid-air collision over Syria just hours after President Trump announced he authorized a missile attack on an airbase.
Under the memorandum, signed after Russia launched an air campaign in Syria, Moscow and the U.S. had exchanged information about their flights to avoid incidents in the crowded skies over Syria.
Russia said it will help Syria strengthen its air defenses after U.S. strike.
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Ric Grennell, a former adviser to four U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations, told Fox News that Russia appears to be attempting to escalate the situation.
“They (the Kremlin) want to make it clear that they have interest inside Syria,” he said. “So it’s going to have to take diplomacy right now.”
Russia has several dozen warplanes and batteries of air-defense missiles at its base in Syria.
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Grennell said that Turkey’s support can be pivotal in getting Moscow to relax its support for President Bashar al-Assad’s administration.