The U.S. and Russian militaries will hold talks at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday via secure video conference to seek ways to keep their militaries apart as they wage parallel campaigns of airstrikes in Syria, a U.S. defense official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Elissa Slotkin, an acting assistant secretary of defense, and a senior uniformed military officer from the Joint Staff would represent the Pentagon in the talks.
Previously, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that U.S. and Russian militaries could hold talks as early as Thursday to ensure that they do not inadvertently come into conflict in their respective airstrikes in Syria.
"We agreed on the imperative of as soon as possible, perhaps even as soon as tomorrow, but as soon possible, having a military to military deconfliction discussion," Kerry said after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
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