Russia Agrees To Second Round Of Talks With US

Russia has agreed to another round of deconflicton talks with the US, however neither country has agreed on a time or details for the discussions, a US defense official traveling with Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the Agence-France Presse. Carter told reporters on Oct. 6 while at Moron AB, Spain, that the US had been waiting on the Russians to respond so the two countries can plan another meeting. “[Russia is] focused on professional conduct and it’s only professional that you follow through on the request they made,” Carter said. “They’ve not done that yet, and that may be a further sign of their strategic confusion.” The announcement comes as a Russian delegation began a two-day visit to Israel to discuss how to avoid incidents in the air over Syria. Reuters, quoting an Israeli military officer, reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in Sept. 21 to build teams to meet with Russian representatives for deconfliction talks. CBS reported on Oct. 5 that officials in the US air operations center at al Udeid AB, Qatar, had tracked Russian Su-34 fighter bombers flying within 20 miles of US Air Force F-16s operating in Syria.