United States and Russian Federation Hold Second Round of Syria Air Safey Talks

“The Department of Defense has received a formal response from the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding the U.S. proposal to ensure safe air operations over Syria”, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.

In Italy on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters that the U.S.is not cooperating strategically with Russia, since the U.S.is fighting the Islamic State and Russian airstrikes have reportedly targeted enemies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which the US has said is a risky move.

The US side has proposed a number of safety measures, including using specific global radio frequencies for distress calls by military pilots flying in Syrian airspace. Before the specter gets any closer to becoming a reality, we should gain what insights we can from a country that hosted previous proxy warfare, that was the scene of military interventions by both Moscow and Washington, and that continues to be a problem for USA policy: Afghanistan.

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 Combined Joint Task Force said the Syria strikes hit tactical units near Al Hasakah, Ar Raqqah, Manbij, and Mar’a and also destroyed tactical vehicles and a building belonging to Islamic State.

“They have shot cruise missiles from a ship in the Caspian Sea without warning; they have come within just a few miles (kilometres) of one of our unmanned aerial vehicles”, Carter said. This week it was reported that the Pentagon was abandoning a $500m effort to arm and train Syrian rebel groups. The USA had been waiting since then for a response. Those groups have made significant progress against strongholds of the Alawites, Assad’s sect, but are now under Russian bombardment, officials said.

Kerry said he was in talks with Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Feridun Sinirlioglu, about how to better communicate with Russian Federation about its military expansion in the region.

The Kremlin shifted 2016 State Duma elections from December to September, Ozdemir said, possibly because Vladimir Putin’s government might be trying to boost its popularity by improving the economy thanks to higher oil prices within the next 10 months. Earlier in the day, the United States alleged that Russian Federation is targeting moderate opposition groups in Syria.