According to Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow is still waiting from Washington and the International Coalition for an explanation over the downing of a Syrian warplane that was bombing rebel positions. Earlier this week, a U.S. led coalition plane shot down a Syrian SU-22 fighter jet over the province of Raqqa. While the Syrian government said that it was bombing ISIS positions, U.S. accused it of bombing Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group that is supported by the United States in a civil war that continues to rage for the sixth year. This incident, considered as an act of aggression and a violation of sovereignty by Moscow and Damascus, led to the Russian Defense Ministry suspending cooperation with its US counterparts within the framework of the Memorandum on the Prevention of Incidents and Ensuring Air Safety in Syria.

Mr. Lavrov said, “There is a mechanism [to avoid Syria airspace incidents between Russia and US] that is now suspended after the US shot down that plane………..We have requested a detailed explanation through the Ministry of Defense. We expect that it will be provided………We cannot but remember that throughout this crisis, starting with the process that we began with [former US Secretary of State] John Kerry with the participation of the military and intelligence services, there was a growing feeling that Jabhat al-Nusra, either intentionally or otherwise, was spared from any serious blows by our American partners……….We frankly talk about this with the Americans, and I will definitely put this question before Rex Tillerson in the very near future, I hope. But there must be a complete clarity.”

The risks of a direct confrontation between American and Russian jets increased after the memorandum got canceled over the jet incident. A civil war that rages on for six years now risks a very grave direct international conflict.