MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. The military authorities of Russia and the United States had a video conference to discuss how to prevent incidents and to provide security of flights in Syria, spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry Major General Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.
Both sides, he said, aimed at better coordination in fighting terrorist in Syria.
The video conference was organized on Saturday at the request from the U.S. side.
"The American side claimed a deliberate strike of the Russian Aerospace Force on groups of the "Syrian opposition" on June 16, 2016 in southern Syria despite requests from the U.S.," he said.
The spokesman said representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry proved the bombed objective was more than 300 kilometers from the territory the U.S. side claimed as the areas where acts the opposition, which had joined the ceasefire regime.
"The Russian Aerospace Force acted in the framework of the agreed procedures, having notified in advance members of the U.S.-led coalition about the ground targets for the strikes. At the same time, the U.S. side had not informed the Russian Aerospace Force about the regions where the opposition under its control was located, thus the Russian aviation could not undertake measure to correct its actions," the spokesman said.
Thus, actions of the Russian side complied fully with the Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the United States on Syria as co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group and the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding between the Defense Ministries of Russia and the United States on preventing incidents and providing for aviation flights during operations in Syria of October 20, 2015.
"Besides," he continued, "the Russian defense authority over several recent months suggested to the U.S. counterparts making a map, which would contain up-to-date information on the location of forces in Syria."
"However, no progress has been reached in this matter. The exchange of opinions on the incident was in a constructive manner, where both sides were aimed at better coordination in fighting terrorist organizations in Syria, not to allow whatever incidents during military operations on the territory of that country," the spokesman said in conclusion.