Whether the alleged Ukrainian plot was real and imminent is still unclear.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken by phone with Russia’s defence minister only five other times.
Now, on July 12, Mr Belousov was calling to relay a warning, according to two US officials and another official briefed on the call: The Russians had detected a Ukrainian covert operation in the works against Russia that they believed had the Americans’ blessing. Was the Pentagon aware of the plot, Mr Belousov asked Mr Austin, and its potential to ratchet up tensions between Moscow and Washington?
These operations have frustrated US officials, who believe that they have not measurably improved Ukraine’s position on the battlefield but have risked alienating European allies and widening the war. Whether the alleged Ukrainian plot in July was real and imminent is still unclear, as is what form it might have taken. Pentagon and White House officials say nothing has happened – yet. They have declined to describe the call in detail but stressed the need for dialogue among adversaries.
A Russian Defence Ministry statement after the July 12 call confirmed that Mr Belousov initiated it, adding that “the issue of preventing security threats and reducing the risk of possible escalation was discussed”. But the statement made no mention of a suspected Ukrainian covert mission. For instance, in the phone call in June between Mr Austin and Mr Belousov, Mr Austin “emphasised the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine”, said Major-General Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.
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