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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on January 6 had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and discussed “reducing the danger near Ukraine’s borders,” Petagoni said in a brief statement.
“It is clear that we are still very concerned about what we are seeing,” a US defense official told Reuters, without commenting on the conversation between US and Russian officials.
The conversation between Austin and Shoigo comes at a time of unrest in the West, following the gathering of nearly 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine’s borders. The West fears Russia is preparing for an invasion of Ukraine, but Moscow denies the allegations.
Russia has demanded assurances that Ukraine and other former Soviet states will not join NATO, and has also demanded that the North Atlantic Alliance withdraw its military deployments to Eastern and Central Europe.
The West has rejected Moscow’s ultimatums to NATO and threatened to impose tough sanctions and take further action if Russia attacks Ukraine.
Russia annexed the Ukrainian Peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and continues to rule the region.
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