Russian, US defence chiefs discuss need for ‘resumption of dialogue’ by phone

(Interfax – Moscow, March 25, 2013) Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu and US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel have held a telephone conversation on issues of global and regional security, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoliy Antonov has told journalists on Monday (25 March).

“Literally an hour ago, at the initiative of the Russian side, a telephone conversation took place between our minister Sergey Shoygu and US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel. The Russian defence minister called his American counterpart to congratulate him on his appointment,” Antonov said.

“During the conversation, our minister stressed the need to resume Russian-American dialogue on military issues, global and regional security, including the issue of European missile defence system,” Antonov said.

According to the deputy defence minister, Russia is very interested in the situation with the development of the European missile defence system. “Our minister proposed that regular consultations on this issue should be resumed at the level of deputy defence ministers, from the Russian side – Anatoliy Antonov, and from the American side – (Undersecretary for Policy) James Miller,” he said.

“The Russian minister said he felt confident that there must be no disruption, let alone chaos, in the dialogue between the defence ministries of the two great powers,” Antonov noted.

Shoygu once again confirmed his invitation to the US counterpart to attend the international conference on European security to be held in Moscow in May.

“At the same time, the Russian minister proposed to use the conference, to which the defence ministers of all NATO countries are invited, to hold a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at the level of defence ministers on its sidelines,” Antonov said.

According to him, such a meeting could be held in Moscow on 24 May. At the meeting, the Russian side could talk about the plan of the forthcoming military exercise West 2013, about which NATO partners are concerned, and discuss military cooperation between Russia and NATO. “Of course, an exchange of views on regional problems could also take place,” Antonov said.

He said that the US defence secretary thanked his Russian counterpart for the congratulations and agreed that it was necessary to resume the dialogue between the defence ministries of the two countries.

When asked where and when the Russian and US defence ministers could meet, Antonov replied that “this issue is subject to agreement through military-diplomatic channels and everything will depend on the schedule of foreign trips of the US defence secretary”. At the same time, the Russian deputy defence minister said that, in his personal opinion, the best time and place for the meeting would be the international conference on European security to be held in Moscow on 23-24 May.

“The telephone conversation between the Russian and US defence ministers took place in a constructive manner,” Antonov summed up.