The American and Russian defence secretaries talk on the topic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This high level meeting is the first of its kind after the Russian invasion.
The US Secretary of Defence, General Lloyd Austin, and his Russian counterpath, Sergi Shoigu, spoke on Friday in a rare conversation on the controversial topic of Ukraine, which was confirmed by sources from both countries.
The last time they spoke was on a phone call on the 13th of May.
According to Brigadier General Pat Ryder of the Pentagon, they are ” eager to keep the lines of communication open” and that this communication was an opportunity to have a discord with Minister Shoigu as the two men haven’t spoken since May.
The Russian Ministry of Defence stated that both men discussed the current “international security” and the “situation in Ukraine”.
During the previous conversation between the two men in May, General Austin requested his counterpath for an immediate ceasefire, but no such request was made this time around.
These talks come after threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was willing to use nuclear weapons to resolve the situation in Ukraine and the subsequent warning from US President Joe Biden.
Despite President Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons, both the US and the UK believe the Russians’ chances of resorting to nuclear weapons are quite slim.
In a response to this, Brigadier General Ryder said that Russia’s comments on the use of nuclear weapons had been “irresponsible and concerning” and the Pentagon has stated that till now there is no signs of them using their nuclear arsenal.
Relations between Russia and the US have further worsened since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Both the countries’ leaders met in 2021 and there were signs of a mutually beneficial relationship, but since the invasion, talks have halted and severe sanctions were imposed on Russia.
During calls prior to the invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “stand down” on his plans for the invasion, and since his invasion, there has been no communication between the two leaders.
The leaders are to attend a G20 summit in Indonesia later in November, and sources say that they will not have a meeting with each other.
The US and its allies’ response to the war in Ukraine was to impose sanctions on Russia and to provide Ukraine with significant military and financial aid.
The Russian President gave an anti-American speech where he denounced the US and the West for influencing Ukraine by providing them with military and financial support and accused the US of “colonialism” when he announced the annexation of four provinces into the Russian Federation.
In a response to this, this week, President Biden criticised Putin by saying that he intimidated Ukrainians to surrender following the declaration of martial law by Russia on its annexed regions of Ukraine and said that Putin is in a very “difficult position” as he has no other way other than to “brutalise individual citizens of Ukraine”.
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