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In response to
"U.S. lawmakers visit Kyiv as Republican leaders raise questions about future aid."
by
crash davis
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The U.S. and Russian defense secretaries have a rare conversation.
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Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with his Russian counterpart on Friday about the war in Ukraine, the first conversation between the two men in months.
Mr. Austin and Sergei K. Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister, had spoken only once previously since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. In that conversation, in May, Mr. Austin pushed for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication.
Communication between the armed forces of the two superpowers has become vitally important in recent weeks, as President Vladimir V. Putin has stepped up Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and made veiled threats suggesting he was willing to use nuclear weapons.
The Pentagon confirmed in a statement on Friday that the two men had had a new phone call, in which Mr. Austin “emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine.” The statement did not provide further details.
A statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry was similarly brief. It said the defense secretaries had “discussed international security problems, notably the situation in Ukraine.”
When the two spoke in May, the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces had settled into an uneasy stalemate. Since then, Ukraine has launched successful counteroffensives in the northeast and the south of the country to recapture territory seized by Russian forces earlier in the war.
Those gains were assisted by the delivery of weapons systems from Ukraine’s Western allies, which the United States and others have pledged to continue to provide.
Mr. Austin referenced those commitments in a separate call with Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, on Friday, according to the Pentagon. It said in a separate statement that Mr. Austin had used the conversation “to reiterate the unwavering U.S. commitment to supporting Ukraine’s ability to counter Russia’s aggression.”
— Cassandra Vinograd
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