Kerry: U.S. plans military talks with Russian Federation over Syria

Kerry said that Assad’s removal has to be made in the context of the Geneva process and negotiation.

The policy of the U.S. is that Assad, a close ally of the Russians, must leave office in order to stop the civil war in his country and United States officials have kept a wary eye on the military support Russia has been sending to the country.

But with Western efforts to tackle the Islamic State group floundering, and the moderate Syrian opposition losing ground to radical groups, the White House may hope to enlist Russian Federation in the fight.

Russian officials said their activities are anti-ISIS, although defense officials on background say they are concerned Russian military operations may also target U.S.-backed rebel groups and affect civilians.

But Russia’s buildup at Syria’s Latakia airbase raises the possibility of air combat missions in Syrian airspace.

Cook says the two men agreed to talk more about how to deconflict the USA and coalition military campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria with Russia’s recent moves to send equipment and personnel to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Al Jazeera’s Nadim Baba, reporting from London, said that the demand for Assad to leave remains the key sticking-point in the on and off talks to end the conflict in Syria.

Military talks between the US and Russia on the Syrian crisis began Friday with a telephone call between Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoygu.

Any secret deployment of troops to Syria would be illegal, he said.

The Foreign Secretary said Britain and the U.S. were “completely aligned” on the need for Assad to go, but the timing and the way it happened would need to be discussed further.

Secretary of State John F. Kerry, right, answers a question about the ongoing crisis in Syria during a news conference with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Saturday in London.

He said: “We keep that situation under continuous review and we will continue to talk to our allies about the military situation in the round”.

The last time a United States defence chief spoke with Shoigu was in August 2014, the Pentagon said, adding high-level communications were halted following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its intervention in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was unaware of any such messages about Syria having been sent by Russian soldiers.

“It is vital to avoid misunderstandings, miscalculations [and] not to put ourselves in a predicament where we are supposing something and the supposition is wrong”, Kerry said.