Lavrov: We agreed with Washington to coordinate counter-terrorism operations

Moscow, SANA – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted that the Russian Aerospace Forces must work in coordination with the air forces of the Washington-led alliance in order to help those fighting terrorism on the ground in Syria, particularly the Syrian Arab Army.

In a statement on Tuesday, Lavrov said that Moscow and Washington agreed to coordinate counter-terrorism operations, and that there’s a chance to realize such coordination.

He asserted that this agreement wasn’t reached immediately; rather it was reached after exceeding the doubts and the American opposition for the idea of moving from only exchanging the information to coordinating the operations of fighting terrorism.

Lavrov pointed out that there are always open communication channels between the Russian base in Hmeimim and the US military working in the Jordanian Capital of Amman.

There is a direct communication channel among Moscow, Washington and the Russian-American center in Geneva to the rapid response on the breaches of the cessation of hostilities in Syria, Lavrov highlighted.

He said that Raqqa city in Syria is one of the targets of the counter-terrorism alliance, much like Mosul in Iraq, voicing conviction that these two cities could have been liberated from the clutches of terrorism with more efficiency and speed had there been military coordination at an earlier stage.

Hazem Sabbagh/Reem/Mazen

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