Today, 19 May, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Millie, spoke for the first time since February 24 with his russian counterpart, General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
This was reported by CNN with reference to the spokesman of the Joint Staff, Colonel Dave Butler.
“The military leaders discussed several security issues and agreed to keep the lines open,” the statement said.
It is specified that Millie's conversation with Gerasimov took place six days after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke for the first time since the beginning of the russian invasion of Ukraine with his russian counterpart, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
But Austin's conversation with Shoigu lasted about an hour. Austin called on Shoigu to introduce an “immediate ceasefire” in Ukraine, according to a brief introduction to the call.
The last time they spoke was on February 18, before russia launched an invasion of Ukraine.
On May 15, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had a new telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov. They discussed the situation on the battlefield and the current needs of Ukraine.