The U.S. military is still confronting Russian pilots over Syria

However, it’s also possible that the Russians are trying to keep tensions with the U.S. forces in Syria simmering below the level of a full conflict, said Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East Security program at the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. military’s lopsided victory in 2018 over Wagner mercenaries provides a good example of what a battle between American and Russian forces in Syria might look like, Lord told Task & Purpose. In that case, Russia’s defense ministry disavowed any knowledge or control of the mercenaries attacking U.S. troops, and then-Defense Secretary James Mattis ordered that the enemy forces be annihilated.

It appears that the Russians are trying to remind the United States that security issues between the two countries present a “multi-theater concern” that extends beyond Ukraine, Lord said.

“If ultimately, I think, the Russians wanted to provoke an actual military engagement with U.S. forces in Syria, they know how to do it,” Lord said. “They’ve had every opportunity to literally pull the trigger – and don’t. That said, when you put so many forces into such a close proximity, there is always the risk of miscalculation or something happening.”

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