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former9thward

(31,936 posts)
Wed Mar 23, 2022, 08:43 PM Mar 2022

Top Russian military leaders repeatedly decline calls from U.S

Source: Washington Post

Top Russian military leaders repeatedly decline calls from U.S., prompting fears of ‘sleepwalking into war’

Repeated attempts by the United States’ top defense and military leaders to speak with their Russian counterparts have been rejected by Moscow for the last month, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear powers in the dark about explanations for military movements and raising fears of a major miscalculation or battlefield accident.

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Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have tried to set up phone calls with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov but the Russians “have so far declined to engage,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby in a statement Wednesday.

The attempted calls by Austin and Milley, which have not previously been reported, come as Russia conducts operations near the borders of NATO members Poland and Romania while the United States and its European allies conduct air-policing operations over the Baltic Sea and pour weapons and equipment into Ukraine by ground transport.



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/23/russia-us-military-leaders-communication/

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Top Russian military leaders repeatedly decline calls from U.S (Original Post) former9thward Mar 2022 OP
Sounds like nobody's in charge. dhol82 Mar 2022 #1
in other words, no back-channels (at least within these reports) because they might be monitored... JHB Mar 2022 #2
Neither Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu nor Gen. Valery Gerasimov have been seen for a while Gore1FL Mar 2022 #3

JHB

(37,154 posts)
2. in other words, no back-channels (at least within these reports) because they might be monitored...
Wed Mar 23, 2022, 09:16 PM
Mar 2022

...and anyone detected as having one will be targeted for "disloyalty."

Gore1FL

(21,098 posts)
3. Neither Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu nor Gen. Valery Gerasimov have been seen for a while
Wed Mar 23, 2022, 09:34 PM
Mar 2022
https://hindustannewshub.com/russia-ukraine-news/journalists-reported-the-disappearance-of-sergei-shoigu-and-valery-gerasimov-the-moscow-times/


Here are the second and third paragraphs (of five total in the article):

On March 11, Shoigu held telephone conversations with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar. On the same day, the press service of the Ministry of Defense showed a video in which the Russian minister visits the Mandryk Central Military Clinical Hospital and presents state awards to the military who participated in the war in Ukraine. The same video was shown by Channel One on March 18. The story said that the event took place “today”.

Another piece of news about Shoigu was released on March 18 on the Kremlin website. He allegedly participated in a meeting of President Vladimir Putin with permanent members of the Security Council, at which the topic of “special operation” was discussed. However, there are no videos or photos from this meeting.

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