Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin held phone talks to discuss containing the “risk of a possible escalation,” the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.
The talks come two days after Washington announced its intention to deploy long-range missiles in Germany.
The ministry said in a statement that the call came at Moscow’s initiative and “discussed the issue of avoiding security threats and containing the risk of a potential escalation.”
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters that Austin stressed the “importance of maintaining open channels of communication” with Moscow during the call, shortly after the conclusion of a NATO summit in Washington.
The White House announced on Wednesday that the United States intends to deploy new weapons in Germany starting in 2026, which will have a longer range than the American systems currently in Europe.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz supported this decision yesterday, Thursday, considering it “part of the deterrence framework” and “guarantees peace.”
But the Kremlin denounced the move, seeing it as a return to the “Cold War.”
The last contact between the Russian and American defense ministers dates back to June 26. During it, Belousov warned of the “danger of a new escalation” related to “the delivery of American weapons” to Kiev.
The Russian news agency Sputnik quoted the US Department of Defense as saying that “the United States will not allow Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles to launch deep strikes on Russia,” adding that this decision is subject to change.
#Contact #Russian #Defense #Ministers