Russia, US agree to coordinate military operations in Syria

Russia announced on Sunday that it has reached an agreement with the United States to cooperate and coordinate military operations in Syria.

A Russian military statement on Sunday said military officials from both sides reached an agreement during a video conference.

The Pentagon said on Saturday that it had questioned Moscow after Russia conducted air strikes against US-backed Syrian opposition forces last week, accusing Moscow of failing to heed US warnings.

The Pentagon warned that such strikes threaten the safety of US and coalition forces operating in Syria.

However, Russian Defence Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov dismissed the allegations, saying the Russian strikes hit about 300 km away from territory where the United States had said opposition forces were operating.

He said Russia had notified the US-led coalition about the targets it was planning to strike.

“The Russian defence ministry for the past few months has been proposing to its American colleagues to draw a unified map, which would contain information about the location of the forces which were active in Syria. However, no material progress has been made on this issue,” the spokesman said.