WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States and Russia have agreed to continue holding discussions on flight safety over Syria during a video conference between the US Department of Defense and Russian Ministry of Defense, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook stated in a release on Monday.
"The conversation was constructive and the two sides agreed to continue safety discussions in this format in the future," Cook said.
Cook explained that the two sides discussed the implementation of the October 2015 US-Russia Memorandum of Understanding, including the ways to enhance operational safety for US-led coalition against the Islamic State as well as for Russian military forces operating in Syria.
Since September 2015, Russia has been conducting an aerial campaign in Syria against the Islamic State terror group on the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In October 2015, Russian and US officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning safety procedures for the two countries’ respective air operations in Syria.
A US-led coalition of more than 6o nations has been carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria since September 2014, but without the approval of the Syrian government or the UN Security Council.
The Islamic State, also known as Daesh, has been designated as a terrorist group and is outlawed in both, the United States and Russia.
