Russian Il-20 Crash In Latakia Not To Affect Putin-Erdogan Agreements On Syria - Kremlin

Russian Il-20 Crash in Latakia Not to Affect Putin-Erdogan Agreements on Syria - Kremlin

The crash of Russia's Il-20 aircraft in Syria will not affect in any way the agreements between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Syria's demilitarization reached Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2018) The crash of Russia's Il-20 aircraft in Syria will not affect in any way the agreements between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Syria's demilitarization reached Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday.

Putin and Erdogan on Monday agreed in Sochi to create by October 15 a demilitarized zone along the contact line of the armed opposition and government troops in the Syrian province of Idlib, and the defense ministers of the two countries signed a memorandum on stabilizing the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone.

"No, this incident will not affect it in any way. This is an important, breakthrough agreement. It is crucial for the future of Syria, it once again confirmed the ability of both Moscow and Ankara to reach compromise and effective decisions in the interests of the ultimate goal - the Syrian settlement, by political and diplomatic means," Peskov said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said contact with Russia's Il-20 returning to the Khmeimim airbase was lost late on Monday. The ministry said that around that time four Israeli F-16 fighters attacked Syrian targets in Latakia. It said that Israeli pilots put the Russian aircraft under the attack of Syria's air defenses, and the Il-20 was shot down by an S-200 missile. Fifteen Russian servicemen were killed.

The Defense Ministry said Israeli aircraft deliberately created a dangerous situation in Latakia. Israel had not warned the command of the Russian group of troops in Syria about the planned operation in the area. The Russian military said it regards Israel's provocative actions as hostile and reserves the right to a proper response.