Gerasimov's secret call — what the Russian and US Gens discussed

The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, secretly called the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Brown. They discussed a number of global and regional security issues, including the ongoing war in Ukraine.

This was reported by The New York Times, citing Pentagon officials.

Russian general called the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff

The publication notes that the phone call took place last Wednesday, just six days after Russia launched a new medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear weapons at Ukraine. According to the Kremlin leader, the attack was a response to Ukraine's use of American weapons to strike deep into Russia.

During the conversation, Gerasimov told Brown that the launch of the Oreshnik ballistic missile was allegedly planned long before the US administration allowed Ukraine to use US missiles to fire at military targets in Russia.

In a comment to reporters, Brown's spokesman Jeryl Dorsey said that "at the request of General Gerasimov, General Brown agreed not to announce the call".

According to him, the parties discussed a number of global and regional security issues, including the ongoing war in Ukraine.

According to the newspaper, it is unclear why Gerasimov wanted the phone call with Brown to remain secret. The last time the Russian Chief of Staff spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was in October 2022, when General Mark Milley held the position. That conversation took place amid fears that Moscow was trying to escalate the war in Ukraine.

As a reminder, ISW analysts reported that Putin's statement that the Russian economy continues to grow, predicting a 4% increase in GDP by the end of 2024, is far from the realities of the Russian economy.

Earlier, we wrote that a Russian ship fired flares at a German helicopter in the Baltic Sea. The Bundeswehr helicopter was on a reconnaissance mission.