The United States is ready to take steps which Moscow has been long waiting for. However, Washington has proposed its own conditions for cooperation.
The US has requested Russia to pressure the Syrian government to stop carrying out strikes against pro-Western rebels.
It is also important that the deal is backed by US Secretary of State John Kerry and has been personally approved by US President Barack Obama. If the deal is reached it will be an extremely important step in restoring Russia-US cooperation in the Middle East.
According to the newspaper, the Obama administration transmitted the text of the proposed agreement to the Russian government on Monday.
"We have been urging the US to deepen cooperation in fight against terrorism for a long time, but haven't got an adequate response from Washington so far. Let's see what's going to happen this time," the diplomat said.
If the agreement is reached the US military would join efforts with the Russian Aerospace Forces against al-Nusra Front.
The US has requested that Russia puts pressure on the Syrian government to stop airstrikes against militant groups not considered terrorists by Washington. Supposedly, they are Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar ash-Sham. Moreover, the US does not plan to provide Russia with intelligence information about the location of those rebel groups. Instead, Washington wants to define geographical locations prohibiting Syrian Army airstrikes.
Many in Washington are concerned that the US does not have a mechanism to guarantee the implementation of the deal by Russia and Assad’s government.
Despite the fact that many agreements on Syria have not been very successful, Obama’s proposal could be constructive, Alexei Arbatov, head of the Center for International Security, the Institute of World Economics and International Relations, told Gazeta.ru.
"I think Russia would accept the idea because it already proposed to coordinate airstrikes with the US against common enemies in Syria and to end combat actions against moderate rebels and Kurds," he said.
Details should be figured out, but the conception itself is good, he added.
The US initiative presumes not just coordination of actions to avoid collision of interests in Syria, but cooperation against the common enemy, Arbatov pointed out.
Meanwhile, analyst Vladimir Evseyev from the Institute of CIS Countries noted that sometimes it is hard to say against whom the US is fighting in Syria.
"They are fighting Daesh but sometimes they’re supporting radicals. This is a policy containing double standards. But if Washington is ready to fight al-Nusra Front Russia will be in the game," Evseyev said.
"It is clear what the US government wants," Giraldi said on Thursday. "They desperately need a 'win' in Syria to help Hillary Clinton in November and only Russia can help deliver that," he told Sputnik.
Initially, the agreement was opposed by US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. Many in the Pentagon believe that airstrikes are useless in fighting al-Nusra Front because its members often join other militant groups. However, Carter finally had to agree on the proposal, according to the Washington Post.