Russia's top military leaders have been refusing calls from US defense officials since the invasion of Ukraine began: report
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- According to the Pentagon, Russia's top military officials have repeatedly refused calls from their US counterparts.
- The Washington Post reported that they had declined any such communication since the start of the war in Ukraine.
- On Monday, Moscow claimed President Joe Biden had put US-Russia relations "on the verge of rupture."
Russia's top military officials have repeatedly been declining calls from their US counterparts since the country launched its invasion of Ukraine a month ago, The Washington Post reported.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told the Post in a statement on Wednesday that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have tried multiple times to reach out to their respective Russian counterparts Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov.
However, the Russian leaders "have so far declined to engage" in the phone calls, said Kirby, per the Post.
Earlier this month, Russia and the US set up a direct communication channel to avoid any accidental conflict or misunderstanding between Russian forces and US military assets near Ukraine.
Despite this arrangement, the refusal of Russia's military leaders to respond to their US counterparts' calls suggests that Washington and Moscow's relationship could be deteriorating.
On Monday, the Kremlin said President Joe Biden had put relations between the two countries "on the verge of rupture" when he called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal."
"There is a high risk of escalation without the firebreak of direct contact between the most senior officials," James Stavridis, NATO's former supreme allied commander, told The Post.
"Very young people are flying in jets, operating warships, and conducting combat operations in the Ukrainian war. They are not seasoned diplomats, and their actions in the heat of operations can be misunderstood," he said.
"We must avoid a scenario of NATO and Russia sleepwalking into war because senior leaders can't pick up a phone and explain to each other what is happening," Stavridis added.
The war in Ukraine reached its one-month mark on Thursday, with Ukrainian forces continuing to repel Russia's attempts to advance into its major cities — contrary to Putin's reported belief that the entire campaign would be swift.
Amid this delay, the Kremlin has intensified its bombardment of major population centers. On March 13, Russian missiles struck a military base in Lviv located just 15 miles from where US troops have been stationed in Poland.
Since the start of the war, around 40,000 Russian troops are estimated to have been injured, captured, or killed, according to a NATO official who spoke anonymously to the media on Wednesday.
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