Breaking the U.S.-Russia Impasse: Keeping the Door Open to Dialogue

... by Moscow on April 14. In June 2017, the U.S. military downed a Syrian aircraft that was purportedly threatening U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Force militias, which Washington says were fighting the Islamic State. For its part, Damascus claims that its ... ... Georgia, among other former Soviet-bloc states. Moscow has also opposed the deepening of NATO military infrastructure, including Missile Defense systems, on the territory of new member states. Moscow has likewise been pressuring EU members Sweden and Finland ...