Russia-US to hold 2nd round of talks on Syria airstrikes
October 10, 2015, 4:39 am

Russian President Vladimir Putin in an informal chat with his US counterpart Barack Obama after formal talks in New York on 28 September 2015 [PPIO]

Press secretary Peter Cook said the Russia-US talks are “likely to take place as soon as this weekend”.

The Russian and US military have agreed in principle with the proposals on coordinating military flights, the Russian Defense Ministry said this week.

The Ministry also confirmed a video conference between the US and Russian defense ministries had taken place on October 1 to discuss the “safe use of air forces” in Syria.

“The Americans have handed us a document, which we are working on. The general staff supports the document in principle,” said Russia’s deputy defense minister, Anatoly Antonov.

“To our regret, the Americans are for now saying that our co-operation should be limited to technical questions concerning our pilots when they carry our their missions,” said Antonov.

The Russian Defence Ministry had earlier clarified that an SU-30 warplane had entered Turkish air space along the border with Syria “for a few seconds” last Saturday, a mistake caused by bad weather. Nato has rejected Russia’s explanation.

Moscow launched its military operation against Islamic State and other terrorist groups at the request of the Syrian government on September 30 and has already targeted a number of IS infrastructure units, hitting command centers, ammunition depots and explosive production sites, among others military facilities.

Moscow has stepped up air strikes against Islamic State targets across Syria with Russian jets carrying out 67 sorties against IS targets in the past twenty four hours, Russian Air Force chief Lieutenant General Igor Makushev was quoted by state media on Friday.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Friday its planes had struck the headquarters of the Liwa al-Haqq militant group in Syria, killing 200 insurgents, including two Islamic State field commanders, state news agency Sputnik reported.

In separate attacks in the Aleppo region, the ministry said its planes had killed a further 100 insurgents.

The United States, France and Britain say the Russian air strikes are aimed at propping up Assad after recent rebel advances. “They are backing the butcher Assad, which is a terrible mistake, for them and the world,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said.

Meanwhile, the United States is dropping a $500 million Pentagon program to train Syrian rebels fighting the administration of President Bashar al-Assad, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing unidentified Obama administration officials.

TBP and Agencies