Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held his second phone call with his Russian defense chief in less than a month on Friday, the day after a NATO summit focused on countering Moscow concluded in Washington, the Pentagon said.
In a Moscow-initiated phone call with Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Austin “stressed the importance of keeping the lines of communication open as Russia continues its war against Ukraine,” Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Austin last spoke with Belousov about two and a half weeks ago, on June 25. Prior to that, he had not spoken directly with his Russian colleague since March 2023. Communications between Washington and Moscow have been almost completely cut off since the Kremlin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
But Russia appears to have been spooked after the NATO summit saw allies issue a joint statement outlining new military and financial support for Ukraine and pledging to support the embattled country’s “irreversible path” to future membership.
Moreover, NATO has supported Ukraine’s demands for greater freedom to use Western-supplied weapons to attack Russian soil, and the UK has announced that it will allow Kiev to attack targets on Russia’s border with UK-supplied long-range missiles.
In addition, the United States and Germany said on Wednesday they would move more strategic weapons to Europe from 2026, including longer-range fires such as undeveloped hypersonic missile systems.
Moscow has long viewed NATO expansion as a threat to its national security and has said it would retaliate against the U.S. missile deployment plans.
“NATO has once again very clearly confirmed its true nature: NATO is an alliance founded with the aim of continuing confrontation in times of confrontation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference with Russian news agencies on Friday.
“Indeed, we see alliance military infrastructure constantly and incrementally moving toward our borders. … Deterring and confronting the alliance requires a thoughtful, coordinated, and effective response.”
Tensions rose this week when reports emerged that U.S. and German intelligence had thwarted a Russian assassination plot against the CEO of a German manufacturing company that sends weapons to Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg later said allies were stepping up intelligence-sharing to counter such attacks by Russia.
Asked whether the Pentagon had intelligence corroborating a Russian assassination plot or whether Austin had mentioned the thwarted plot with Belousov, Singh did not provide further details.
“Of course, we are always sharing information and knowledge with our allies and partners, but I have nothing further to add,” she said.
