War in Ukraine
Radio silence, threat, then a phone call: Pentagon chief speaks with Russian defense minister
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a phone call at his desk
© Lisa Ferdinando / Imago Images
It can happen so quickly: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has contacted his Russian counterpart. Moscow and Kiev are exchanging 180 hostages. And Zelensky is happy about the EU accession negotiations.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has spoken to his Russian counterpart in a rare exchange following threats from Moscow. During the conversation with Andrei Belousov, Austin stressed that in view of the Russian war of aggression in the Ukraine it is important to maintain communication, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said on Tuesday. He did not provide any further details about the phone call.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday night that both sides had exchanged views on the war in Ukraine. Belousov pointed to the increasing danger of an escalation of the situation in the country in connection with the ongoing US arms deliveries to Ukraine. Other issues were also discussed. The ministry in Moscow did not provide any details.
Moscow threatened Washington on Monday after a Ukrainian missile attack on the city of Sevastopol on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. “It is clear that the direct involvement of the USA in hostilities resulting in the deaths of Russian civilians cannot remain without consequences,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The Russian Foreign Ministry also summoned the US ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy, and handed her a note of protest.
Moscow did not provide any specific information about the consequences for Washington. However, the Russian leadership has long complained that the USA is increasingly becoming a participant in the war.
According to the Pentagon, the initiative for the conversation came from Austin. According to Ryder, Austin last spoke to his Russian counterpart on March 15, 2023. At that time, Sergei Shoigu was still Russian Defense Minister. After numerous scandals involving corruption and abuse of office, he moved to the post of Secretary of the Russian National Security Council. The economist Belousov is supposed to ensure that military spending is used effectively for the war economy and the fighting on the front lines.
Ukraine and Russia exchange prisoners of war – 180 in total
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia have released 90 soldiers each in another exchange of prisoners of war. “Our people are home,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the social network X.
They are soldiers from various units of the armed forces, some of whom also fought in Mariupol before the Russians took the city. The returnees fought against the Russian invasion in the Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Luhansk regions.
“We are thinking of all our people in Russian captivity. We are continuing our work to get everyone out,” said Zelensky. Like the Russian Defense Ministry, he thanked the United Arab Emirates in a statement for its role as mediator. Both sides published videos of the released and happy soldiers.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow announced that 90 Russian prisoners of war had been handed over by Ukraine. The men were brought to Moscow by military transport aircraft for treatment and rehabilitation in medical facilities.
The talks on the exchange of prisoners of war are among the last remaining contacts between the conflicting parties. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, who started the war more than two years ago on February 24, 2022, said the number of Russian soldiers in Ukrainian captivity at the beginning of the month was 1,348. The number of Ukrainian prisoners of war on the Russian side, however, is more than 6,000, he said.
Selenskyj again welcomes EU accession negotiations
In his evening video message, Zelensky once again promised to clarify the whereabouts of the Ukrainian prisoners and to bring them home. In the video, he again stressed that Ukraine is fighting for a future in Europe. As in other messages during the day on Tuesday, he welcomed the start of EU accession negotiations. The country will do everything it can to meet the requirements for admission to the European Union.
Before that, he and other representatives of the Ukrainian leadership had also praised the start of the negotiations in a video. “Today is the day that we have all worked long and hard for – the entire team of Ukraine,” said Zelensky in the recording in front of his official residence in Kyiv. The country now has the definitive certainty of becoming a full member of the EU. The head of state recalled the signing of the application for membership on the fifth day of the Russian invasion at the end of February 2022. Zelensky was joined in the video by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.
“Many have said that this is nothing more than a dream,” said Zelensky. However, after “thousands of meetings and phone calls,” Kyiv has fulfilled the conditions for starting talks thanks to the determination of the Ukrainian people. “We will definitely achieve this goal – like all our other goals,” said Prime Minister Shmyhal.
Parliament President Stefantschuk said that Ukraine would complete the process in record time. “We have passed all the necessary laws and will continue to do so so that Ukraine will never again be separated from the European house,” Stefantschuk stressed. Ukraine’s accession will ensure a stable and secure future for Europe.
Ukraine applied to join the European Union shortly after the Russian invasion over two years ago. The Eastern European country became an official candidate for membership in June 2022; at the end of 2023, the European Council of Heads of State and Government recommended starting accession talks. Ukraine is considered the poorest country in Europe, and a large part of its budget is already financed from abroad.
How long it will take for a country to join the EU after talks have started is completely unclear. In theory, a candidate for accession can also be rejected. In the case of Ukraine, it is currently considered impossible that it will become an EU member before the end of the Russian war of aggression. This would mean that Kiev could demand military assistance under Article 42, Paragraph 7 of the EU Treaty – and the EU would be a party to the war.