In the midst of recent tensions between Washington and Moscow over Ukraine, a US military convoy accompanied by the mainly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came across their Russian counterparts on Saturday on their patrol routes.
Soldiers of a #Russian military convoy and their #US counterparts exchange greetings as their patrol routes intersect in an oil field near #Syria's al-Qahtaniyahtown in the northeastern Hasakah province,close to the border with Turkey,on Octobre 8, 2022
Delil SOULEIMAN/@AFPphoto pic.twitter.com/pWIui6bF0L— Delil souleiman (@Delilsouleman) October 8, 2022
The US, Russian, and Kurdish troops greeted each other in a friendly way and were photographed by the Agence France Presse.
The troops’ encounter took place near an oil field in north-eastern Hasakah province just 6 km away from the Turkish border. Most of Hasakah is under the control of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, which Turkey sees as a threat to its national security.
The Turkish and Russian troops also from time to time carry out joint patrols near Hasakah as a part of a deal struck by the presidents of the two countries in 2019 to end a Turkish offensive that had started earlier to clear territories near the Turkish border of Kurdish fighters.
