Defense Minister Lloyd Austin on Friday urged his Russian counterpart to discuss a ceasefire in the first meeting between the two leaders in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began. The Pentagon said this about three months ago.
Austin has had no contact with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu since February 18, six days before the start of the Russian Federation. Attack on Ukraine – despite repeated attempts by US officials to do so, said a senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to key Pentagon rules. The two men talked for about an hour and an official described their conversation as “professional” but refused to give details of what was said.
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin presses hard for Ukraine, but in silence
“We were unable to communicate due to lack of effort,” the official said. “We wanted this conversation from the start and Minister Shoigu agreed to meet us this week. “But I don’t think we know exactly what prompted them to change their minds and be open.”
The discussion took place in the same way as in Russia It has expanded its military presence in Ukraine, especially in the eastern parts of the country – As he had previously failed to take the capital Kiev and left Thousands of soldiers. The Pentagon said Russia currently has a battle group of about 105 battalions in Ukraine. Friday is slightly more than last week’s countdown by the Department of Defense.
Shoigu and Austin also spoke as the two countries, Finland and Sweden, took steps to apply for NATO membership, a move officials are considering. It strengthens their long-term security, but makes them potentially vulnerable to Russian retaliation. Each of NATO’s current 30 members must approve their application for membership, a process that can take months.
Most of the Russian military’s efforts focus on the Donbass, a part of eastern Ukraine that Moscow wants to conquer. A senior US defense official said Russian forces were attempting to disembark south from the city of Izium, which they already controlled, to the city of Slovyansk, but encountered fierce resistance from Ukraine.
He added that Russian forces have made some “incremental” gains west of the city of Popasna, southeast of Slovyansk, but that Ukrainian officials have been successful north of the city of Kharkov, the main town in the northeast. .
“We mainly assessed that Ukrainians continue to make progress in returning to the towns and villages around Kharkov,” the official said. he said. “We have seen that Russian forces are making progress in approaching their borders and moving away from Kharkov.
A senior US defense official said fighting in the region turned into “a very heavy back and forth artillery battle.” In one case, Ukrainian forces used artillery fire to prevent this. A defense official said Russia was trying to cross the Siverskyi Donets, a river that flows from southern Russia to Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said in a Facebook post that they destroyed several Russian cars near the town of Lyman.
The Pentagon also said so Ukraine is trying to recapture Snake Island on the Ukrainian-Romanian border. Russia captured it at the start of the invasion, but satellite images released by Maxar on Thursday appeared to show the results of a missile strike on a Russian military landing craft near the island. The company said the photos showed smoke rising from the spots where the ammunition had just been hit.
Separately, on Friday the military announced the transfer of four troops into new forces to bolster security in Eastern Europe, a sign that officials believe the war in Ukraine will continue.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the deployment is temporary, but said Austin and his staff are still considering what a permanent US military presence should look like after the invasion of Europe. More than 100,000 US troops were deployed across Europe, including around 20,000 before the Russian invasion, and officials estimate that at least some of this additional personnel will remain on NATO’s eastern flank for years.
Source: Washington Post
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
