Russia seeks broader cooperation with US-led coalition in Syria

Russian military is willing to expand cooperation with the US-led coalition in Syria, Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov said on Tuesday.

"We are firmly convinced that no country is able to cope with the common threat of terrorism alone, no matter how strong the United States, Britain, Germany and NATO are. That is why we are in favour of broader international cooperation," Antonov said according to a Defence Ministry meeting transcript.

Russia was ready to share specific reconnaissance data about Islamic State (IS) positions and activities with the anti-IS coalition, he added.

According to Antonov, defence ministries of Russia and the US were working on a document on cooperation in air operations against the IS terrorist group.

 

He said that in the next few days there would be another video conference between Russian and US military, as the first was held Thursday following the start of Russian air strikes against IS facilities.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that the communication channels have been restored with the United States between defence ministries and defence agencies.

Antonov said his ministry was ready to establish different types of working groups with any interested country to prevent new problems similar to the Russian aircraft's violation of Turkish airspace.

Russian ambassador to Turkey was summoned twice as Ankara claimed Turkish airspace was violated on both Saturday and Sunday.