US Defense Secretary succeeds in establishing contact with Russian Defense Minister, finally

It is beyond comprehension that United States sponsoring tons of lethal arms wants a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Has the superpower realized it can’t defeat Russia or it is an attempt to recoup energy before making the final attempt to cause ‘substantial damage’ to Russia?

Another point of view is that Joe Biden has exhausted all the limits available to him regarding sale of arms to Ukraine. It may be recalled that Sen. Rand Paul hit the brakes Thursday on bipartisan hopes that the Senate could quickly pass nearly US$40 billion in Ukraine aid before leaving town for the week. 

Yet another point hardly being discussed is that the United States has lost the edge, because some European countries have started making gas payment in Russian ruble, having realized that no other source of supply is available, at least in the short term.

According to the latest reports, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu on Friday, marking the first time the two have spoken since before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine began.

Austin “urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a readout of the call.

Last time Austin had spoken with Shoygu on February 18, 2022, less than a week before Russia’s invasion began.

A month into the invasion, Kirby acknowledged that Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley had unsuccessfully tried to engage with his counterparts. The Washington Post was the first to report the dilemma.  

“There are vehicles, we still have military-to-military communications with the Russians,” Kirby told Fox News. “But at the senior levels, where we think it’s really important particularly right now, that’s not happening. It is not happening because the Russians don’t seem to be interested.” 

A senior US defense official told reporters that the call was initiated by Austin and lasted about an hour, with the tone characterized as “professional.” 

It was unclear what changed on the Russian side to engage in the call, but Austin hopes it “will serve as a springboard for future conversations,” according to the official.

However, Austin “continues to have concerns about what’s going on in Ukraine,” and the call itself “didn’t specifically solve any acute issues or lead to a direct change in what the Russians are doing and what they’re saying,” the official said.

Whereas Austin and Milley have had a hard time speaking with their Russian counterparts, the two have remained close with their Ukrainian counterparts.

Austin has held multiple conversations with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov throughout the invasion, and the two most recently spoke on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, Milley spoke with Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to a readout of the call, the two “continued to exchange perspectives and assessments of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.”