Kremlin 'Seriously Concerned' Over US-Led Coalition's Actions in Syria

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The actions of the US-led coalition in Syria are seriously concerning for the Kremlin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

"The situation linked to the coalition’s actions is seriously concerning, of course," Peskov told reporters.

He did not comment on whether the Kremlin was concerned that such actions could lead to direct Russia-US confrontation.

On June 18, a US jet shot down a Syrian Su-22 fighter-bomber near the city of Tabqa. The US-led coalition said the Syrian aircraft attacked Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions, adding that the coalition downed the Syrian jet as part of "collective self-defense of Coalition partnered forces."

The Russian Defense Ministry announced Monday that it suspended the deconfliction channel with the United States for incident prevention in Syria following the attack.

Additionally, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that any airborne objects west of the Euphrates River would be tracked by Russian ground and air defenses as targets.

The US-led coalition of 69 members is conducting airstrikes, ground-based and rocket-propelled artillery fire against Daesh in Syria and Iraq. The strikes in Iraq are conducted in support of the Iraqi government, but those in Syria are not authorized by the UN Security Council or the Syrian government.

The activities of the coalition sometimes result in attacks on government forces, like the attack conducted against troops in the Syrian Deir-ez-Zor in September 2016 or the recent downing of the Syrian aircraft.