Russian on Monday urged the U.S. to respect Syria’s territorial integrity and refrain from unilateral actions.
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, made his remarks after a U.S. warplane shot down a Syrian army jet on Sundayin the southern Raqqa countryside, with Washington saying the jet had dropped bombs near U.S.-backed forces and Damascus saying the plane was downed while flying a mission against Islamic State militants.
Lavrov also said that a new round of peace talks on Syria in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana would take place on July 10.
A senior Russian diplomat told Interfax news agency on Monday that the downing of a Syrian government warplane by the U.S. is a step toward a dangerous escalation, and Moscow is warning Washington not to use force against Syrian government troops.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also told the agency that a set of new U.S. sanctions that could be imposed on Russia would lead Moscow to retaliate.
Ryabkov said that he and U.S. Undersecretary of State, Thomas Shannon, would meet in St Petersburg on June 23to discuss problems in bilateral ties, Interfax reported.
