US, Russian Federation ready for new Syrian air safety talks: Pentagon

Russian Federation and the United States are expected to hold military-to-military talks on Syria, where both countries have been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIL) militants, this weekend, the Pentagon said.

Efforts to ensure pilot safety have gained urgency after the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation denounced Russian Federation for violating Turkish airspace.

USA and Russian officials spoke once by video conference about the flight issues late last week, before the Russian incursion into the airspace of Turkey, which borders Syria.

The first round of talks, held on October. 1, between defense officials in Moscow and Washington to discuss how to de-conflict air operations between the two countries brought little result, according to US media.

Talks centre around basic safety measures including which language air crews should communicate in and how much space planes should leave each other.

The US also accused Russian Federation of conducting the crowded and sometimes uncoordinated air raids in Syria, saying Russian Federation is mainly striking Syria’s anti-government rebels in support of its ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

Reports on Friday said IS had seized several villages near the northern city of Aleppo from rival insurgents.

The Russian campaign appears to have weakened these groups, and given IS the opportunity to push forward, he adds.

Russia’s entry into Syria’s civil war last week has complicated America’s more than year-old campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State, leading to at least one USA jet to course-correct to avoid an incident.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said Russian aircraft came within miles of a USA drone and criticized Russia for launching cruise missile strikes without warning.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has insisted the missiles had reached their targets in Syria.

However, it emerged last month that only four or five of the fighters were in Syria.

A senior administration official said the programme was being put on “pause” and said it could be restarted in future.