The Pentagon said the United States and Russia made "progress" during talks designed to avoid accidents in Syrian airspace as the two countries conduct separate bombing campaigns.
The 90-minute video conference call took place on October 10, the Pentagon said.
"The discussions were professional and focused narrowly on the implementation of specific safety procedures," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.
Cook said more talks are planned "in the near future."
Talks center around basic safety measures such as which language air crews should communicate in and how much space planes should leave each other.
Russian planes recently flew near a U.S. drone, officials say, and the U.S. military, which has been bombarding Islamic State sites in Syria since last year, has had to reroute some flights to avoid any close calls.