U.S. and Russian Militaries Launch Talks on Syria

The United States and Russia renewed high-level contacts between their militaries on Friday to discuss how to deal with the war in Syria.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter and Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke by telephone, spokesmen from their ministries said.

Washington and its NATO allies broke off ties with the Russian military in April last year in protest at Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.

But now the rivals find themselves enmeshed in Syria, where they face an opportunity to work together but also the danger of an accidental clash. 

For a year, the United States and a coalition of Western and Arab allies have been carrying out air strikes against Islamic State jihadists.

The United States has also, with limited success, been training Syrians who are fighting the extremist IS group but who are also in revolt against the Damascus regime. 

Russia, meanwhile, is providing support to Bashar Assad's government and building up its own military presence at an airbase and a naval depot in western Syria.

"The secretary and the minister talked about areas where the United States and Russia's perspectives overlap and areas of divergence," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian agencies that the call had lasted an hour and that contacts would continue.

"The necessity to coordinate bilateral and multilateral  efforts to combat international terrorism was at the center of attention," he said.

"The conversation showed that the two points of view are similar or the same on most of the issues discussed."

In Washington, Cook said: "They agreed to further discuss mechanisms for deconfliction in Syria and the counter-ISIL campaign." 

In military terms, "deconfliction" means rival armies will talk to one another to avoid accidental encounters between their forces.  

"The secretary emphasized the importance of pursuing such consultations in parallel with diplomatic talks that would ensure a political transition in Syria," Cook said, in a statement.  

"He noted that defeating ISIL and ensuring a political transition are objectives that need to be pursued at the same time. Both the secretary and the minister agreed to continue their dialogue."  

- Tactical discussions - 

The White House said Thursday it was open to limited talks with Moscow following what Washington believes is the deployment of Russian troops and heavy weapons to war-torn Syria.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama's administration was willing to hold "tactical, practical discussions" on operations in Syria and the fight against the Islamic State group.

The decision signals a newfound willingness to engage with Russia, after months of giving President Vladimir Putin the cold shoulder over his actions in Ukraine.

Putin has provided vital support to Assad throughout a popular uprising against his regime and as the conflict has metastasized into a brutal civil war that has killed 240,000 people and displaced four million.

But Moscow has also sought to portray Assad's army as a bulwark against Islamist rebels, including IS, which has seized a vast swathe of eastern Syria and northern Iraq and declared a so-called "caliphate."

Washington and its European, Turkish and Arab allies view Assad as a pariah who they blame for plunging Syria into chaos and allowing the Islamic State group to thrive.

But, with Western efforts to tackle the Islamic State group floundering, and the moderate Syrian opposition losing ground to radicals, the U.S. officials have suggested Russia may have a role to play in the fight.