--- description: The United States plans to engage in military-to-military talks with Russia about Syria, said Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday. title: U.S. to Open Talks with Russia about Syria image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40080b3390244b7f/6988642935ba6f34bbc0f375/kerry-russia-syria.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Foreign Policy](/tag/foreign-policy/) ## Foreign Policy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Seeks Military Talks with Russia on Syria  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2015 2:55 PM CUT  Secretary of State John Kerry in the Oval Office on Sept. 15\. Kerry said the U.S. will engage in military talks with Russia on Friday. Secretary of State John Kerry in the Oval Office on Sept. 15\. Kerry said the U.S. will engage in military talks with Russia on Friday.Andrew Harnik—;AP  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2015 2:55 PM CUT The United States plans to engage in military-to-military talks with Russia about Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday. “The president believes that a military-to-military conversation is an important next step,” Kerry [told](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/world/europe/us-to-begin-military-talks-with-russia-on-syria.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") reporters_,_ “and I think, hopefully, it will take place very shortly.” The U.S and Russia have long been at odds over Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. The Obama administration believes Assad must be removed from power for the Syrian civil war to come to a resolution, but Russia has given him its support since the conflict began in 2011. Read more at the [_New York Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/world/europe/us-to-begin-military-talks-with-russia-on-syria.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4040101/us-military-russia-syria-talks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4040101/us-military-russia-syria-talks/"},"headline":"U.S. Seeks Military Talks with Russia on Syria","datePublished":"2015-09-18T14:55:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:03:44.246Z","description":"The United States plans to engage in military-to-military talks with Russia about Syria, said Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday.","url":"https://time.com/4040101/us-military-russia-syria-talks/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","russia","Syria","John F. Kerry"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40080b3390244b7f/6988642935ba6f34bbc0f375/kerry-russia-syria.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40080b3390244b7f/6988642935ba6f34bbc0f375/kerry-russia-syria.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Kerry","caption":"John Kerry","creditText":"Andrew Harnik—;AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4040101/us-military-russia-syria-talks/","name":"U.S. Seeks Military Talks with Russia on Syria"}}]}] ```