ROME — Russia and the United States tentatively agreed Tuesday to resume talks on how to prevent conflicts between their warplanes in the skies over Syria, even as concerns mounted about the potential for a broader confrontation in the Middle East between the two powers.
After days of complaints from U.S. and NATO officials about a lack of cooperation and risky maneuvers by Russian warplanes, Russia’s Defense Ministry offered to hold another round of discussions with the Pentagon on avoiding a midair disaster or a hostile encounter involving their fighter jets, drones and other aircraft over Syria.
The tone expressed by both sides remained distrustful, however, as they labored to agree on when to meet and accused each other of blocking progress. The dispute has escalated in recent days as Russia has ramped up its bombing campaign in Syria, further congesting a war zone that was already crowded with a dizzying array of foreign forces.
Russian warplanes based in Syria have twice violated the airspace of neighboring Turkey, a NATO member, adding to concerns about the potential for an inadvertent collision or confrontation.
