Pentagon: United States has no plans to conduct military work in Syria in conjunction with Russia
The United States has no current plans to conduct military activities in Syria in conjunction with Russia. An exception is the prevention of dangerous incidents between the militaries of the two countries, said Pentagon spokesperson Michelle Baldanza, reports RBC news agency.
According to Baldanza, the forces of the US and the International Coalition are not conducting work that envisages military cooperation or coordination with Russian forces. Baldanza explained that the coalition does not support the Russian forces in the development or achievement of their military objectives, does not provide data for air strike guidance to Russia's air force, and does not replenish the Russian Armed Forces' reserves, nor does it provide military support for Russian military operations or advise Russian soldiers on the battlefield.
The United States does not cooperate with Russia in Syria because of legislative requirements, the Pentagon spokesperson summed up.
According to Baldanza, the United States and Russia, however, have "channels of communication to prevent unintended dangerous incidents in the air or on the ground in Syria between the coalition and its allied forces, and those forces that support the Assad regime." Thus, partners can safely conduct operations against the Islamic State (IS) faction. For example, in the provinces of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa, US and Russian forces are fighting near one another or several kilometers apart, and have repeatedly accused each other of provocations.
On September 25, the US-backed "Syrian Democratic Forces" (SDF) alliance announced the bombing of its emplacements by the Russian Aerospace Forces. According to the SDF, the incident occurred near the city of Deir ez-Zor, where they are conducting an offensive against IS in parallel with Syrian government troops. The day before, the SDF had recaptured the largest gas field in the province of Deir ez-Zor from the terrorists. The Russian Ministry of Defense, in turn, rejected these accusations and stated that the attacks were carried against terrorists only.