---
title: "No, US And Russian Troops Are Not Shooting At Each Other In Syria, US Official Clarifies"
date: "2018-11-28"
modified: "2018-11-28"
authors:
  - name: "Jeff Schogol"
    job_title: "Senior Pentagon Reporter"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jeff-schogol/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/us-troops-combat-russia-syria/"
categories:
  - "News"
---

# No, US And Russian Troops Are Not Shooting At Each Other In Syria, US Official Clarifies

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/18991237-1.jpg>)

There are screw-ups and there are major-league screw-ups, but the U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement takes the prize for the mother of all screw-ups by implying that U.S. and Russian troops are shooting at each other in Syria – they aren’t.

- Let’s recap. Ambassador James Jeffrey recently told Russian media that U.S. troops have had to defend themselves “about a dozen times” in Syria, according to [a transcript of the interview](<https://ru.usembassy.gov/special-representative-for-syria-engagement-jeffrey-in-interview-with-ria-novosti-and-kommersant/>) that was posted on the Russian embassy’s website.
- When a reporter asked Jeffrey if any of those incidents involved Russian forces, he replied: “As I said there have been various engagements, some involving exchange of fire, some not.”
- To news outlets, it appeared that Jeffrey had announced the United States and Russia were fighting a quiet war in Syria. That made sense, considering Russian military contractors attacked U.S. troops and their Syrian allies in February – and they were nigh annihilated.
- The U.S. government did damage control on Wednesday, explaining what Jeffrey meant to say.
- “The ambassador was speaking broadly about U.S. forces in Syria to defeat ISIS and their right to defend themselves when threatened,” a U.S. official told Task & Purpose. “Ambassador Jeffrey was not confirming ‘multiple incidents’ occurred between Russian and American forces in Syria.”
- For the moment, [World War III](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7GMNTJa5zQ>) has been averted.

### SEE ALSO: Leaked Audio Reportedly Captures Russian Mercenaries Describing Humiliating Defeat By US In Syria

**WATCH NEXT:**

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-814.png>)

## Author
Jeff Schogol is the senior Pentagon reporter for Task & Purpose. He reports on both the Defense Department as a whole as well as individual services, covering a variety of topics that include personnel, policy, military justice, deployments, and technology.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/jdschogol/>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-schogol-188a9317/>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/JeffSchogol>)