According to a March 23 report in the Washington Post, the Russian Defense Ministry has rebuffed attempts by Pentagon officials to set up phone calls between Secretary Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Milley and their Russian counterparts. The Post cites DOD spokesman John Kirby saying in a statement that the Russians “have so far declined to engage.”
Kirby confirmed, during an appearance on Fox News yesterday that indeed the Russian side has declined to take phone calls from the Pentagon. “We made multiple—multiple—attempts here, but they have not answered up. They have declined to take these calls,” he said. “So there are vehicles, we still have military-to-military communications with the Russians,” Kirby said. “But at the senior levels, where we think it’s really important, particularly right now, that’s not happening. And it’s not happening because the Russians don’t seem to be interested.”
At the Kremlin, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responding to the Washington Post story, said that “Contacts at the military level are always important and, most importantly, during such hectic times. My advice is to turn to the [Russian] Defense Ministry asking for details.” As of now, the Defense Ministry has, apparently, not commented on this.
