Syria ‘Near Miss’ Prompts US-Russia Air Safety Talks

As the war in Syria continues to rage, the United States (US) and Russia are to hold new talks on air safety, after it emerged combat aircraft from both nations came within miles of each other on Saturday.

Reports say the planes were in visual contact with each other, 10 to 20 miles apart.

This would be the third round of talks as the two countries seek to find ways of avoiding an accidental conflict.

Despite the talks, the US said Russia’s actions in Syria were “wrongheaded”.

US Secretary of Defence, Ash Carter, said that he expected a deal soon, but Russia said it had ‘updated proposals’ to be discussed during a video conference.

Russia began its campaign of air strikes in Syria on September 30, saying it was targeting Islamic State (IS) militants and other jihadist groups, after a request to help militarily from Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad.