Russia’s top general and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman discuss ATACMS, Oreshnik, and North Korean troops in rare phone call — NYT
Russian Army General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown held their first ever phone call late last month, The New York Times reported on Thursday. According to a spokesman for Brown, the call took place on November 27, but Brown “agreed to not proactively announce the call” at Gerasimov’s request.
Brown’s spokesman said the two officials “discussed a number of global and regional security issues, to include the ongoing conflict in Ukraine,” but did not give further details.
According to officials cited by the NYT, Gerasimov told Brown in the call that the Russian authorities’ decision to deploy the Oreshnik ballistic missile in combat was made before the Washington lifted its restrictions on Ukraine using U.S.-made ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory.
Additionally, CNN reported that Gerasimov warned Brown during the call about upcoming Russian military exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. On December 3, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that these exercises included launches of Zircon hypersonic missiles. However, CNN’s sources noted that Gerasimov did not explicitly mention the missile launches during the call.
According to CNN’s sources, Brown expressed the U.S government’s concerns about the deployment of North Korean troops to combat zones and Russia’s use of the Oreshnik missile.
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