Top US, Russian generals spoke by phone amid tensions

PHOTO CAPTION: The Pentagon is shown with the Air Force Memorial in the foreground in Arlington, Va., Dec. 7, 2021. (DOD Photo by Navy Chief Petty Officer Carlos M. Vazquez II via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, spoke by phone with Russia's Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov last week, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, the first time Brown spoke with his Russian counterpart.

"The leaders discussed a number of global and regional security issues to include the ongoing conflict in Ukraine," a spokesperson for Brown said in a statement.

The rare call took place on Nov. 27, but "at the request of Gen. Gerasimov, Gen. Brown agreed to not proactively announce the call.” The request for the call was made by the Russian ministry of defense, the spokesperson said.

Brown became the top U.S. general last year, and Gerasimov last spoke with Brown's predecessor, Mark Milley.

Tensions have spiked in recent weeks. Ukraine fired U.S. and British missiles at targets inside Russia despite Moscow's warnings that it would see such action as a major escalation.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address, said Moscow struck a Ukrainian military facility with a new medium-range, hypersonic ballistic missile known as "Oreshnik" (the hazel) and warned that more could follow.

U.S. officials had said Russia notified Washington shortly before its strike.



(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Leslie Adler)