Russia 'could put in place' coordination with US on Syria strikes

Russia could implement US proposals aiming to coordinate Moscow's strikes in Syria with the Washington-led coalition, a Russian defence ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. "The Russian defence ministry has answered the demands of the Pentagon and is examining in depth American proposals on coordinating operations carried out ... against the terrorist group Islamic State on Syrian territory," Russian news agencies cited Igor Konashenkov as saying. "On the whole, these proposals could be put in place," he said, adding: "We will for our part only try to clarify certain technical details which will be discussed today between Russian military defence experts and those from the Pentagon." US and Russian officials held discussions last week -- at Russia's request -- on establishing measures to avoid accidents so warplanes flying over Syria would not be in the same place at the same time. The so-called "deconfliction" talks came after Russia started bombing in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, further complicating the four-and-a-half-year conflict. Russian warplanes have carried out "intense" new strikes in two Syrian provinces, a monitoring group said Wednesday. Planes "believed to be Russian" hit at least four locations in central Hama province, and three locations in northwestern Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based group had no immediate tolls from the strikes overnight and in the early hours of Wednesday which were "more intense than usual". "For the first time the strikes were accompanied by fighting on the ground between regime forces and rebels," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.