Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart for the second time in less than a month and one day after the NATO summit wrapped up in Washington with a focus on countering Moscow, according to the Pentagon.
During the call with Russian Minister of Defense Andrey Belousov, which was initiated by Moscow, Austin “emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine,” deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Austin last spoke with Belousov on June 25, about 2.5 weeks earlier. Prior to that, the Pentagon chief had not directly spoken with his Russian counterpart since March 2023. Communications between Washington and Moscow have almost entirely broken down since Kremlin forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
But Russia appears to be roiled following the NATO Summit, during which alliance members issued a joint communique laying out new military and financial support for Ukraine and pledged their support for an “irreversible path” to future membership for the embattled country.
What’s more, NATO has backed Ukraine’s push for more latitude in its use of Western-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia, with the United Kingdom announcing it would allow Kyiv to hit targets over Russian borders with British-provided long-range missiles.
In addition, the U.S. and Germany on Wednesday announced the movement of more strategic weapons into Europe, including long-range fires such as undeveloped hypersonic missile systems, starting in 2026.
Moscow, which has long viewed the expansion of NATO as a national security threat, said it would retaliate against the U.S. missile deployment plans.
“NATO once again very clearly confirmed its essence. It is an alliance founded in an era of confrontation with the aim of continuing confrontation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday during a press conference with Russian news agencies.
“We see in fact that the alliance’s military infrastructure is constantly and gradually moving towards our borders. … All of this will require us to take thoughtful, coordinated and effective responses to deter and confront the alliance.”
Adding to tensions, reports emerged this week that U.S. and German intelligence had foiled a Russian assassination plot against the CEO of a German manufacturing company sending munitions to Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has since said allies are increasing intelligence sharing to combat such Russian attacks.
Asked whether the Pentagon has any intelligence corroborating the Russian assassination scheme, or if Austin brought up the foiled plot with Belousov, Singh declined to provide further details.
“Of course we always, with any of our allies and partners, always share intelligence and information, but I just don’t have more to add,” she said.