US, Russia Talk Air Safety Deal, But US Declines Deeper Talks

US Refuses to Receive Russian Delegation Led by PM

Both US and Russian defense officials are confirming some progress made on a basic understanding on air safety over Syria, where the two nations are both conducting airstrikes against ISIS, and are trying to avoid getting into a direct conflict with each other while doing so.

The understanding is expected to be extremely limited, however, as Russian FM Sergey Lavrov reported that an offer for “deeper talks” was spurned by the US, and the administration went so far as to refuse to receive a Russian delegation if one was sent to Washington to discuss Syria.

This is perhaps unsurprising, as the US has repeatedly rejected the idea of “cooperating” with Russia, and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is openly talking about undermining Russia in every way possible. Still, for Russia to offer to send PM Dmitry Medvedev to the US, and have the offer rejected out of hand is a new step.

Russia was seeking such talks even before their airstrikes began, and while the US rejected those talks, they have also lashed Russia as “unprofessional” for carrying out the strikes without having such talks.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.