Russia sees need for more military cooperation with US

VIENNA (Reuters) - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday a U.S. decision to deploy special forces in Syria would make cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries more important. Earlier on Friday, U.S. officials disclosed plans to station dozens of special forces troops as advisers in Syria to help in the fight against Islamic State militants. "I am sure that neither the United States nor Russia want (the conflict) to become a so-called proxy war," Lavrov told reporters after multi-lateral talks on the Syrian crisis in Vienna. "But it is obvious for me that the situation makes the task of cooperation between the militaries more relevant." He also said discussions on securing a ceasefire in Syria's four-year civil war would continue, but said the fight against what he called terrorist groups would also not cease. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Tom Heneghan)