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The Pentagon has confirmed that Russia’s top defense official spoke with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the phone over escalation concerns.
According to the Pentagon, this was the second call between Secretary Austin and Defense Minister Belousov in less than a month. In a statement, Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Russian side initiated the call to discuss lowering the “risk of possible escalation.”
A spokeswoman for the Pentagon also provided a statement regarding the call, saying, “Secretary Austin spoke by telephone this morning with Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov.” The spokeswoman added that Secretary Austin “stressed the importance of keeping the lines of communication open.” She declined to provide any additional information to the call but reiterated that Secretary Austin believes “it is incredibly important to keep the lines of communication open.”
This call followed the recent NATO summit in Washington, which marked the alliance’s 75th anniversary and reinforced support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. The summit also led to significant announcements regarding Europe’s defensive capabilities. The US revealed a $225 million military aid package for Ukraine, including another Patriot air-defense system and additional artillery rounds.
Additionally, the White House announced plans for periodical deployments of long-range fire capabilities for its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany by 2026. This initiative aims to permanently station these capabilities to deter Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. The plan will incorporate SM-6, Tomahawk missiles, and hypersonic weapons. The White House stated, “When fully developed, these conventional long-range fires units will include SM-6 and Tomahawk [missiles], and developmental hypersonic weapons, which have significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe.”
