Russian head of defense warns US general of military exercise in the Mediterranean

Russian head of defense warns US general of military exercise in the Mediterranean

In a unique telephone conversation so far, the Russian Defense Minister warned the Supreme US general about a large-scale military exercise in Russia in the eastern Mediterranean. Against the background of the increasing tensions between the two countries, this happened due to the escalating war in Ukraine.

Details on the appointment

The conversation between the head of the Russian general staff, General Valery Gerasimov, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the USA, General cq brown took place on November 27th and was initiated by Gerasimov.

military exercise in the Mediterranean

On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that hyperician and cruise missiles were fired as part of an exercise in the eastern Mediterranean. The Russian frigates "Admiral of the Soviet Union Fleet Gorshkov" and "Admiral Golovko" fired Tsirkon-Hyperschallrakets during the exercise. The underwater trip of the Novorossiysk also used Kalibr marching aircraft against a maritime goal, according to the Ministry.

The exercise included more than 1,000 soldiers, 10 ships and 24 aircraft, including MIG-31 hunting aircraft, which were armed with Kinzhal hyper-sound missiles.

reaction of the USA

Gerasimov did not explicitly mentioned the start of the hypersian missiles, a US official reported. The United States currently has two destroyers who are used in the Mediterranean: the USS Bulkeley and the USS Arleigh Burke, said a spokesman for the Navy.

content of the conversation

according to the New York times this was the first conversation between gerasimov and brown before over a year chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Usually an official protocol is published after discussions with military representatives, but in this case the Russians asked to do without it.

A Brown spokesman confirmed the conversation, but only revealed no further details and only said: "The managers discussed a number of global and regional security issues, including the continuing conflict in Ukraine." Captain Jereal Dorsey said in a statement: "At the request of General Gerasimov, General Brown agreed not to proactively announce the conversation." In connection with the exercise in the Mediterranean, however, nothing was mentioned in the explanation.

Other topics of discussion

The US official reported that the United States also had concerns from the United States with regard to the sending of North Korean troops to the front and Russia's use of a medium-range missile with several explosive heads at the end of November. Another topic was the approval of the United States to Ukraine to use ATACM's long -range missiles against targets in Russia.

Deconfliction between the USA and Russia

The US and Russian armed forces maintain Deconfliction management in certain combat areas to avoid unintentional encounters when both military operates nearby. These lines were recently used in the Middle East to avoid tensions between the US and Russian armed forces in Syria, according to the Pentagon.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine almost three years ago, the military chiefs of the United States and Russia have rarely spoke to each other, although the United States was repeatedly in contact at the beginning of the war. Gerasimov last spoke to the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley in March 2023 after a Russian fighter plane shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea.