Special to WorldTribune.com

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Sept. 11 that “there is no military-to-military contact” between U.S.-led coalition and Russian forces in Syria.

The Pentagon is said to have been caught off guard by reports that Moscow has deployed troops in Syria to support the embattled regime of Bashar Assad.

“We’re keeping an eye on the Russian situation,” Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, spokesman for CENTCOM, said at a press briefing on Sept. 11, downplaying any potential conflict to reporters. “Coalition forces are focused on conducting counter-ISIL operations, and so to my knowledge there is no military-to-military contact at this point.”

Hours before Ryder’s press briefing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the U.S. about a growing risk of “unintended incidents” if the countries’ militaries did not cooperate in Syria, according to a report by DefenseOne.

Lavrov claimed the Obama administration had damaged a “professional” relationship the two militaries had for years when it severed military ties after Russia annexed Crimea and invaded Ukraine.

“They understand each other very well,” Lavrov said of U.S. and Russian military leaders. “If, as John Kerry has said many times, the United States wants those channels frozen, then be our guest.”

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the Pentagon has “routine military-to-military exchanges and dialogue with Russia, just as a matter of course.”

According to defenseone.com, Kirby said that the U.S. is using back channels, such as the Syrian representative to the U.N., to notify Damascus of imminent actions.

“There’s no coordination with the air campaign and the Syrian regime, but yes, they have been notified in the past about air activity and advised to stay clear of it,” Kirby said.

“It is very dangerous to have both Russian and U.S. troops in a confined battle space, essentially on opposite sides of a civil war, without contact for deconfliction of any combat or support activities,” said James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and now dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

“Open communication at the strategic and tactical level are both important.”

  U.S. and Russian forces are on opposing sides in Syria and aren’t talking, WorldTribune.com