(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Russia has sent fighter jets to Syria, US officials said, raising the stakes in a military buildup that has put Washington on edge and led yesterday to the first talks between US and Russian defence chiefs in over a year.
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter, eyeing the possibility of rival US and Russian air operations in Syria's limited airspace, agreed in a call with his Russian counterpart to explore ways to avoid accidental military interactions.
The co-ordination necessary to avoid such encounters is known in military parlance as "deconfliction".
"They agreed to further discuss mechanisms for deconfliction in Syria and the counter-ISIL campaign," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said after the call, referring to the campaign by the US and its allies against Islamic State militants.
The former Cold War foes have a common adversary in IS militants in Syria, even as Washington opposes Moscow's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, seeing him as a driver in the nation's devastating four-and-a-half-year civil war.
A senior US defence official, recounting details of the conversation, said Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had described Moscow's activities in Syria as defensive in nature.
Shoigu said Russia's military moves "were designed to honour commitments made to the Syrian government", the US official said.
It was unclear, however, what those commitments to Syria are or how Russia's military buildup was relevant to them.
Russia's latest deployment has added significant air power to a buildup that, according to US estimates, also includes helicopter gunships, artillery and as many 500 Russian naval infantry forces at an airfield near Latakia.
One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said four tactical Russian fighter jets were sent to Syria. Another US official declined to offer a number but confirmed the presence of multiple jets.
In London, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States was looking to find "common ground" with Russia.
Kerry said it was important to forge a political agreement in Syria and end the hardship of Syrian people.
"Everybody is seized by the urgency. We have been all along but the migration levels and continued destruction, the danger of potential augmentation by any unilateral moves puts a high premium on diplomacy at this moment," he said.
Carter told Shoigu that future consultations would run in parallel "with diplomatic talks that would ensure a political transition in Syria", Cook said.
"He noted that defeating (IS militants) and ensuring a political transition are objectives that need to be pursued at the same time," he said.
Moscow said yesterday it would consider any request from Assad to send troops.
"If there is any request then it would naturally be discussed and evaluated through bilateral contacts and dialogue," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
"But it is difficult to talk about this hypothetically."
The White House said on Thursday it was open to limited talks with Moscow following what Washington believes is the deployment of Russian troops and heavy weapons to 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 IS.
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 metastasised into a brutal civil war that has killed 240,000 people and displaced 4mn.
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 IS to thrive.
But, with Western efforts to tackle IS floundering, and the moderate Syrian opposition losing ground to radicals, the US officials have suggested Russia may have a role to play in the fight.
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