WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Russian military has been professionally operating flights in Syria in coordination with the United States, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said on Tuesday at the Economic Club in Washington, DC.
"We [US and Russia] have a memorandum of understanding, we talk at the working level and make sure we’ve safety of flights," Carter stated. "They’ve been behaving very professionally in that regard."
Russia launched an anti-terrorist campaign in Syria on September 30, following a request from the Syrian government and approval by the Russian parliament.
The Russian General Staff chief noted that the Russian Aerospace Forces have conducted 100 daily combat missions, on average, since January 22.
Russian aircraft had carried out over 5,600 sorties in Syria as of mid-January, taking out thousands of terrorist targets, including several hundred militants, dozens of command centers and depots.