Russia and the United States are at loggerheads after the US shot down a Syrian warplane on the weekend.
The US claims the jet had dropped bombs near US-backed forces, but Syria says the plane was shot down while flying a mission against Islamic State militants.
Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, says the US needs to respect Syria's territorial integrity.
"We call on the US and all the others who have forces or advisers on the ground to ensure our work is coordinated. The zones of de-escalation are one of possible options for joint progress. We call on everybody to avoid unilateral actions, to respect - I stress once again - Syria's sovereignty and to join our work which is coordinated with the Syrian government."
The US says it's working on restoring what they call a "de-confliction" communications line with Russia.
They're trying to avoid an accidental clash over Syria, a task which will now require some delicate political manoeuvring.
Russia has, for the time being, suspended its "de-confliction" agreement with the US, and has even said that in the future, it will regard any US plane found west of the Euphrates river as potential targets.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, says it's a delicate situation.
"An incident occurred. We have to work through the incident. We have a channel to be able to do that and I think it's going to require some diplomatic and military engagement in the next few hours to restore the de-confliction that we've had in place and again the de-confliction that we've had in place is in our mutual interest because it allows us to address what at least pro-regime forces have indicated is our common enemy, ISIS (Islamic State)."
General Dunford has, however, defended the decision to shoot down the plane.
"We made every effort to warn those individuals not to come any closer and then the commander made a judgment that there was a threat to the forces that we were supporting and took action. The only actions that we have taken against pro-regime forces in Syria - and there have been two specific incidents - have been in self-defence, and we've communicated that clearly."
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump are scheduled to meet in Germany early next month.
Military expert Pavel Felgenhauer has told Al Jazeera it will be their chance to patch things up.
"There's not that much real change on the ground. Yes, they say they're going to use the de-escalation channel, but then again soon at the beginning of July President Putin and President Trump will meet in Hamburg. And that's where they can bury the hatchet and resume again this de-escalation, because really no-one wants to fight."
Iran is now involved too.
It's fired surface-to-surface missiles at IS positions in eastern Syria, in retaliation to an attack in the Iranian capital, Tehran, earlier this month, for which IS claimed responsibility.
Iran's decision to get involved for the first time highlights just how complex the situation in Syria has become.
