US-Russian Defense Ministers Talk For First Time Since Russia-Ukraine War
The Pentagon announced on Friday (May 13) that U.S. Defense Secretary Austin spoke with the Russian defense minister for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine, CNN and the BBC reported.
“On May 13, Defense Secretary Austin III spoke with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for the first time since February 18,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.
General Austin “urges Russia to immediately cease fire in Ukraine and emphasizes the importance of maintaining lines of communication,” Kirby said.
A senior U.S. defense official told reporters that the call between Austin and Shoigu lasted about an hour on Friday.
An unnamed U.S. official said the tone of the hour-long conference call was “professional” but did not address any specific issues or lead to a change in Russian policy, according to Reuters.
Russian media confirmed that the Russian Ministry of Defense released a message saying: “On May 13, at the request of the United States, Russian Defense Minister General Shoigu held a telephone conversation with US Defense Secretary Austin. The two sides discussed international security hotspot issues including the situation in Ukraine.”
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after a Muslim prayer in Istanbul on Friday: “We are looking at applications from Sweden and Finland, but we don’t have a positive view of it,” said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. “. “Unfortunately, the countries of Skandinavia are like hotels for terrorist groups,” he said.
Erdogan said it was a mistake for NATO to accept Greece’s membership in the past. Erdogan said that everyone knows what Greece has done to Turkey within the framework of NATO. “As Turkey, we do not want to make a second mistake on this issue.”
“Furthermore, the Nordic countries are home to terrorist groups whose members are even MPs in certain countries, and we cannot possibly support them,” Erdogan said.
Erdogan accused the Scandinavian state of sheltering members of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Revolutionary People’s Party Liberation Front (DHKP-C).
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which seeks independence in Turkey, has been fighting Turkey for decades and has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. DHKP-C is a far-left organization hostile to the Turkish government, the United States and NATO.
Swedish Foreign Minister Linde responded, “The Turkish government did not send us this kind of information directly.” Linde said: “My Turkish foreign minister colleague has a very good and constructive relationship with me, and he will be attending this weekend in Berlin. An informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers was held, in which both Sweden and Finland were invited.”
She added: “We will then have the opportunity to talk about a possible Swedish NATO application and I hope we will continue to receive positive information from all 30 NATO countries. Many of the 30 allies have publicly expressed very strong support for Sweden and Finland,”
NATO foreign ministers will meet in Germany on Saturday (May 14) and the foreign ministers of Finland, Sweden and Turkey will have the opportunity to discuss Turkey’s response.
Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu spoke with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg on Friday (May 13), according to Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu.
Since Turkey maintains good relations with both Ukraine and Russia, it has been mediating the end of the conflict since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, and has proposed inviting the leaders of the two countries to Turkey for a summit. While Turkey has provided Ukraine with unmanned combat aircraft, it has shied away from joining Western allies in jointly sanctioning Russia.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finnish politics and public opinion turned in favor of joining NATO in order to deter Russian aggression.
The Finnish President and Prime Minister said in a joint statement yesterday (May 12) that Finland should submit its application to join NATO without delay. According to media reports, Finland and Sweden plan to submit applications to join NATO on May 16.
If Finland and Sweden join NATO, NATO will further expand eastward. One of the reasons why Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine is to prevent NATO from expanding eastward.
According to a report by the Russian Satellite News Agency on May 13, Putin’s press secretary Peskov said that the further expansion of NATO will not bring more security to Europe, and NATO is aggressive. He added that he did not think Sweden and Finland joining NATO would pose an existential threat to Russia.
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg pointed out that NATO would be pleased to see Finland and Sweden join its ranks and would provide it with the opportunity to join the alliance quickly.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Don Fried said the U.S. would support Sweden and Finland if they submitted applications.
A White House spokesman said on Friday that the United States was “working to coordinate Turkey’s position.”
Analysts pointed out that Turkey’s current opposition to Sweden and Finland’s accession may cause trouble for the two countries, because joining NATO requires the consent of all existing members.
Kremlin: Reports that Russia will stop gas supplies to Finland on Friday are ‘hoaxes’
According to CNN, the Kremlin said Russia did not intend to stop supplying natural gas to Finland from Friday (May 13), calling Finnish media reports that it would be a “hoax”.
“Gazprom supplies gas to various consumers in Europe, including NATO members,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters on Friday.
“It is very likely that these reports are just another newspaper hoax,” Peskov said.
Peskov added that he did not know the details of the payment referring to Russian energy giant Gazprom “because there is a presidential decree on a new system of payments for gas supplies.”
In late April, Gazprom said it had stopped supplying it entirely after Polish gas company PGNiG and Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz refused to meet Moscow’s demands to pay in rubles instead of euros or dollars.