Ukraine war: new US-Russia hotline set up to avoid ‘miscalculation’
- The US and Nato are concerned about potential escalation in the region as Moscow stages the largest assault on a European state since World War II
- Western allies are channelling millions of dollars worth of weaponry to Ukraine’s armed forces, which are using the arms against Russian troops
The Pentagon has established a new hotline with Russia’s ministry of defence to prevent “miscalculation, military incidents and escalation” in the region as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine advances, a US official said on Thursday.
The United States says it has no troops in Ukraine but it and Nato allies in Europe are worried about potential spillover, including accidents, as Russia’s stages the largest assault on a European state since World War II.
The US and its allies are also channelling millions of dollars worth of weaponry to Ukraine’s armed forces, which are using the arms against Russian troops, despite Moscow’s warnings against foreign interference.
“The department of defence recently established a deconfliction line with the Russian ministry of defence on March 1 for the purposes of preventing miscalculation, military incidents, and escalation,” a senior US defence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirming a move first reported by NBC.
The US military has successful created hotlines with Russia in the past, including during the war in Syria, where Moscow intervened on the side of President Bashar al-Assad.
There, the United States and Russia were waging parallel military campaigns, with the United States focused on battling Islamic State.
Putin’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was quoted on Wednesday warning that a third world war would be a nuclear conflict, remarks that added to growing unease.
US delays ICBM test in bid to de-escalate Russia nuclear tensions
The US military said on Wednesday it would postpone a scheduled test launch of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.
“We recognise, at this moment of tension, how critical it is that both the United States and Russia bear in mind the risk of miscalculation and take steps to reduce those risks,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday, announcing the move.
