US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had a telephone conversation today with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, as tensions on the Russian-Ukrainian border remain unabated.
“They discussed reducing the risks on Ukraine’s borders,” Kirby added in a very brief statement.
Europeans, Americans and Kiev have been accusing the Russians for several weeks of gathering tens of thousands of troops at the Ukrainian border for a possible invasion. They have repeatedly warned of “massive” and unprecedented sanctions if the Kremlin takes action.
Russia, for its part, denies threatening Ukraine, which it annexed part of Crimea in 2014, and says it must protect itself from Western-backed hostility to Kiev, especially in its confrontation with pro-Russians. separatists.
Russia is widely regarded as a supporter of these separatists who have been involved in the conflict that has raged in eastern Ukraine for almost eight years and has already claimed more than 13,000 lives.
Negotiations between the US and Russia are expected to begin on Monday in Geneva, following a NATO-Russia meeting and another meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
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