(Bloomberg) -- The US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff spoke with his Russian counterpart for the first time in more than a year, discussing Ukraine and other matters as tensions continue to rise between the two adversaries.
General Charles Q. Brown spoke to Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian general staff, on Nov. 27, his office said in a statement. It was the first time they had spoken since Brown took his post on Oct. 1, 2023.
“The leaders discussed a number of global and regional security issues to include the ongoing conflict in Ukraine,” the statement said. “At the request of Gen. Gerasimov, Gen. Brown agreed to not proactively announce the call.”
The Defense Ministry in Moscow confirmed the call in a statement on Thursday that said it was held at Russia’s request. Gerasimov informed Brown in advance about Russian naval and air force drills in the eastern Mediterranean Sea this week, including the use of hypersonic Zirkon missiles and Kalibr cruise missiles, to “prevent possible incidents” involving US and NATO ships in the area, according to the statement on Telegram.
More details of the discussion were not announced but the call follows a fresh spike in tension between the US and Russia after President Joe Biden allowed Ukrainian forces to fire US-supplied ATACMS missiles into Russian territory. Moscow responded by firing a type of intermediate-range ballistic missile that’s capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Direct communications between the US and Russia have almost completely broken down since President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Russian counterpart, Andrey Belousov, in June.
(Updates with Russian Defense Ministry statement in the fourth paragraph)
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