WASHINGTON DC— Following a meeting between Russian and US presidents in New York this week Moscow and Washington agreed to open lines of communications on their future air operations in Syria, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday.
“This morning [Defense] Secretary [Ashton] Carter directed his staff to open lines of communications with Russia on deconfliction,” Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook said at a press briefing. “We expect the details of those conversations, including the exact timing of those conversations, will be worked out in the coming day,” he added.
US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a 90-minute meeting at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, discussing the situation in Syria and future coordination between both countries in combating the Islamic State (ISIS).
Addressing the UN Assembly Obama picked a softer tone about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the possibility that he may be a part of future negotiations for a political settlement.
In his own speech Putin reiterated his support for Assad, saying that only the government forces can defeat ISIS.
Now that both countries appear to be working on a forward plan for Syria, the Pentagon said that communications with Russia is to avoid accidents and miscalculations between the US-led coalition and the Russian military, which aims to bolster Syrian army.
“The purpose of these deconfliction discussions will be to ensure that ongoing coalition air operations are not interrupted by any future Russian military activity, to ensure the safety of coalition air crews and to avoid misjudgment and miscalculation,” Cook he said.
After more than a year of no communications due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and serious disagreements over Ukraine, the US Defense Secretary and his Russian counterpart spoke again on Sept. 18 about Russian presence in Syria.
According to the Pentagon, Russia and US have a “common interest” in fighting ISIS, but cautioned that Moscow’s military build-up in Syria should not be to shore up support for the Assad regime.
Russia has deployed expeditionary forces, tanks and fighter jets in Syria country, which has raised eyebrows about Moscow’s real intentions in the region and US fears that Russia may complicate it's anti-ISIS strategy.
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