According to the ministry, the military attache said, he had no information on the issue and would provide an official reply in the nearest future.
"Today, the military attache at the British Embassy in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Defense Ministry, where he was handed a note with a request to provide official explanations on information, published in the British media, citing high-ranking sources in the Defense Ministry of the country, on alleged directives to use weapons against Russian aircraft 'in case of threat to their lives,' received by Royal Air Force pilots," the statement read.
Earlier, a UK defense source told the Daily Star Sunday tabloid that British and NATO pilots reportedly had been given a clearance to shoot down Russian jets over Iraq.
UK defense sources stressed that RAF pilots have been told to avoid contact with Russian jets "at all costs," but warned the pilots must be prepared to attack Russian jets "if their lives depend on it."
Russia launched precision airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria last week at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had not received any requests from Baghdad to carry out airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq.
(Sputnik)
10/11/15
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Britain dismisses reports about air force orders in Iraq ...
ReplyDeleteRussia called in the British defence attache in Moscow on Sunday after a British newspaper published what London said was an inaccurate report that its pilots had been given permission to attack Russian jets if fired on.
The British tabloid, Daily Star Sunday, quoted unnamed senior defence sources as saying it was just "a matter of time" before British fighters were involved in a confrontation with Russian jets over Iraq.
Moscow this month began bombing rebels in Syria in support of its ally, President Bashar al-Assad. Britain, which wants Assad to step down, is conducting air strikes on Islamic State militants in Iraq, but has yet to decide whether to extend its action to the Islamic State fighters opposing Assad's forces in Syria.
A spokesman for the British Foreign Office said in a statement that the attache had had a meeting in the Russian Defence Ministry after it sought "clarification over inaccurate newspaper reports concerning RAF rules of engagement in Iraq".
Russian news agencies had earlier reported that the British defence attache had been summoned to explain the reports.
The attache repeated Britain's concerns about Russian bombing in Syria, which London has said complicates the situation there, the Foreign Office spokesman said.
REUTERS