SOCHI, August 31. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to boost military contacts with the United States insofar as Washington is ready to do that, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

According to him, the Russian Defense Ministry and the US Department of Defense have been maintaining contacts on Syria in a real-time mode. "There is an agreement on a mechanism to prevent unintentional accidents and it works," Lavrov added.

"We are interested in making our contacts concerning this part of the Middle East and North Africa more specific in order to facilitate the search for solutions. We are ready to move in that direction insofar the US finds it possible for itself though many in Washington do not welcome any kind of contacts between Russia and the United States," the Russian top diplomat said, adding that "you know what the atmosphere is like there."