Washington. September 24. INTERFAX-Contacts between the US and Russian military are limited at the legislative level, but the Pentagon maintains communication channels with Russia in order to prevent dangerous situations between the parties, US Defense Ministry spokesman John Kirby said on Friday.
"The Ministry of Defense has suspended military cooperation with Russia - from the point of view of politics and law-as a result of Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine. Our communication with the Russian military is limited to a little more than ten cases of interactions that reduce the risk of incorrect calculations or contribute to the deconfliction of military operations (US and Russia - IF)," he said at a briefing.
He noted that such an approach, for example, is used in Syria.
At the same time, Kirby expressed confidence that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, Mark Milley, will continue to interact with the Russian side - within the limits of the US restrictions on contacts with the Russian Federation - in order to reduce tension.
As previously reported by the Associated Press, Milli, after completing a trip to Europe, told reporters that the United States needs to think about expanding military contacts with Russia.
"The main American military commander said that the United States should look for ways to expand military contacts with Russia. In particular, we could talk about allowing observers to attend each other's military exercises," the agency reported.
The American general explained that at this stage, contacts with the Russian Federation on the military line are only at the highest level: in addition to Millie, the head of the Pentagon, the commander of NATO forces in Europe are engaged in this. According to Milli, the United States should think about the expediency of allowing contacts with the Russian Federation for lower-level military leaders.
