“Neither Syrian nor Russian aircraft carried out any airstrikes against the areas mentioned by the American side,” the ministry said. “Effective cooperation between the command of Russia’s Aerospace Forces at the Hmeymim airbase and the US Air Force as part of battle against ISIL (former name of the Islamic State group outlawed in Russia – TASS) in Syria will continue in the future.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that “on February 28, there were contacts in Syria via the established communication channels between a representative of the air group command of the Russian Aerospace Forces at the Hmeymim airbase and his US counterpart at the Al Udeid air base (Qatar). During the talks, the representative of the US Air Force voiced concern that Syrian and Russian aircraft, while accomplishing a mission against ISIL south of the city of Menbij, could carry out an unintentional airstrike against the US-controlled armed groups.

“To avoid any incidents, the US representative informed the Russian officer about the exact locations of the US-backed opposition forces militants. The Russian side took this information into account,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.