US and Russia ready to work together on making Syrian airspace safe

The United States and Russia are ready to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) soon to ensure proper basic safety to Syrian airspace, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

When asked about the estimated date and time for the countries to sign the MoU, the official denied to comment by saying it would take effect “soon.” The agreement will make sure Syrian airspace is safe for all aircrafts that work in combination with the U.S. in fighting the ISIS, another official told CNN.

On Saturday, the aircraft of the former Cold War opponents came close enough to offer visual contact with each other. The aeroplanes were 10 to 20 miles apart. The U.S. defence force said that Russian planes have continuously been seen breaking air patrols, coming close to an unnamed American drone aircraft. On their first meet on the matter on Oct. 1, the U.S. and Russia discussed maintaining safe distance between their aircrafts and using common radio frequencies to communicate during flights.

The news on the finalisation of the agreement came on the day the U.S. and Russia defence personnel participated in their third video conference, focusing on enhancing understanding of aerial missions since Russian forces started conducting airstrikes in Syria on Sept. 30.

The U.S. even warned that if Russia would still support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, it wouldn’t cooperate with it in any operation. U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter called Russia’s alleged misguidance as “unprofessional behaviour.” “We have not, for our part, and will not agree, to cooperate with Russia as long as they continue to pursue a misguided strategy,” he told a group of U.S. army leaders in Washington, reports Reuters.

Russia claimed that it was only attacking IS militants, while the Western nations and Syrian activists said that the Russian airstrikes were also harming non-IS targets. However, Moscow denied claims on attacking non-IS militants and said that it would not make any change in the mission against the IS in Syria.

The U.S. decided on limiting contacts with Russia after their third talk on the matter. Unexpectedly, both camps came into good terms, indicating progress on the matter of enhancing security of Syrian flights. “Positions became closer on the key provisions of the future document [on air safety],” the defence ministry said in a statement to Russian news agencies.

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