Russia, US move to resume talks on air-to-air conduct over Syria

The discussions on ways to keep the US and Russian aircraft from clashing over Syria, launched last week, have gained urgency after the United States and NATO denounced Russia for violating Turkish airspace.

Turkey, a NATO ally, threatened to respond, raising the prospect of direct confrontation.

During a trip to Europe, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter described the need to resume talks as urgent, and condemned Russia's "seriously irresponsible and unprofessional" violation of Turkish airspace.

Hours later, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters Moscow had indicated it was willing to resume talks but no date had been set.

Russia's deputy defense minister, Anatoly Antonov, was quoted by the Tass news agency on October 6 as saying the Russian military agreed in principle with the proposals made by the United States on coordinating military flights.

But he was quoted as saying differences remained, that the potential for collaboration was "much wider" than what Washington was offering, and that Russia had made its own proposals, though he did not specify what they were.

"To our regret, the Americans are for now saying that our co-operation should be limited to technical questions concerning our pilots when they carry our their missions," said Antonov.

"The Americans have handed us a document, which we are working on. The general staff supports the document in principle."

He said the two countries would hold a second joint video conference on the subject in the "coming days".

The US proposal includes basic safety protocols, such as maintaining a safe distance between US and Russian aircraft and using common radio frequencies for distress calls, officials say, adding they would be similar to civil aviation.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the United States awaited a formal response from Russia on the US proposals.