U.S., Russia sign Syrian airspace agreement

The United States and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding governing manned and unmanned aircraft over Syria, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters today.

A "line of communications" has been established on the ground "as a backup," allowing for "real-time communications if necessary," Cook said. Additionally, steps have been taken to ease communications between flight crews if needed, but the protocols established in the MOU are designed to obviate such contact.

Citing a request from the Russians, Cook declined to disclose the specific terms of the agreement, but said it "calls for aircraft to maintain a safe distance." Pressed to define safe distance, he said "anything that could be deemed as threatening or hostile could represent a violation of this agreement."

He continued, "it should be abundantly clear to the pilots that are flying over Syria what is appropriate and what is not, what is threatening and what is not."

Cook emphasized the professionalism of American air crews, and said the agreement obligates their Russian counterparts to maintain similar standards, and said "if there's an instance in which there is unprofessional conduct . . . obviously we will raise those concerns with the Russians."

In response to a question regarding recent close calls between Russian and coalition aircraft, Cook said "our hope is that these protocols prevent that from happening again."

The agreement does not address Russian incursions into Turkish airspace, but "specifically refers to aircraft and flights over Syria," Cook said.

While he acknowledged a reporter's contention that the terms were largely agreed upon by Oct. 16, Cook said "signatures were put in place today, and we'll go from there."

Gen. Lloyd Austin, head of U.S. Central Command, signed the MOU on behalf of the United States, according to Cook.