On June 25, the war in Ukraine reached its 853rd day. At a time when 700,000 Russian troops were fighting fiercely on a front of thousands of kilometers, Russia's new Defense Minister Belousov was invited to make a phone call with US Secretary of Defense Austin. By invitation, that is, the call was initiated by the American side, and the initiative was initiated by the United States. So the question arises: why did the US Secretary of Defense take the initiative to make this call?
First of all, this is to prove to the American people that the American homeland is safe, don't worry. The existence of a military hotline between Washington and Moscow has always been a sign that the two military powers are at peace. However, before the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war and in the initial period of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the US Secretary of Defense could not make any phone calls to the Russian Defense Minister, that is, the Russian Secretary of Defense did not answer the calls of the US Secretary of Defense at all. The Pentagon, which has been fighting against the fighting nation for nearly 80 years, knows very well that if the dawn in Moscow is always quiet, then the Russian army must be playing a demon. You must know that "unpredictability" has always been one of the soft powers of the Russian army.
More than 20 years ago, when Russia was poor and weak, the 200-strong Russian airborne troops dared to attack the Kosovo airfield surrounded by 7,000 NATO troops from a long distance. Now that the Russian tank has been activated for more than two years, 700,000 Russian troops have already been red-eyed in Ukraine and can't do anything. After all, the Russian army is the most particular about not breaking out in silence, but perishing in silence.
Therefore, the White House, which has been manipulating the war in Ukraine behind its back, and the Pentagon, which has always been deeply hated by the Russians, must give the Americans a "reassurance": the Russian army is now fighting smoothly on the frontal battlefield, and it is still in the mood to keep in touch with the Pentagon and say something that does not hurt or itch. This means that Russian-American relations are stable and controllable for the time being, and the war will only take place in Europe and will not threaten the US mainland. Or to put it more bluntly, now the Russian army has not been driven crazy, it is still bargaining with the US military, and it will not throw "artillery battles" indiscriminately. The continental United States is now safe.
Secondly, this is to prove to the European member states of NATO that Russia is still lucky with conventional warfare, and you just need to continue to let go and toss the Russian army. Russia alone is fighting a proxy war in Ukraine to challenge NATO and the United States, which have several times its own conventional forces, and its confidence is naturally its three-in-one strategic nuclear force "artillery battle". Once either the war ends, or the world is destroyed.
However, Russia is fighting the Russian-Ukrainian war in order to survive, not because it doesn't want to live, so don't use the most extreme means to solve problems that can be solved by conventional means. If the United States and NATO can be forced to return to 1997 by conventional means, without using "mass murder weapons", why should Moscow not do it.
Therefore, now the Russian army is deliberately lengthening the battle line, and on a front of thousands of kilometers, the Ukrainian army has a "thousand cuts", and there are factors such as leaving land and not people, but it also has the meaning of rehearsing Russia's iron-blooded generation to kill Ukraine and respect European countries.
Now that Russia has more than 2 million predators who have gone through the baptism of war in Ukraine, European countries must consider the price of playing with these more than 2 million veterans if they want to continue to beat Russia. Therefore, when the war in Ukraine is getting bigger and bigger, and the intensity is getting higher and higher, the Russian army is fighting more and more fiercely, and the eyes are getting redder and redder, and the small drums in the hearts of European countries will be beating louder and louder.
Therefore, when the NATO summit is about to be held, and it is necessary to define the next combat routine, the US defense secretary has come forward to set a set of cards for the new Russian defense minister, and the meaning of giving NATO and European member states a "reassurance" is very obvious. Because as long as Russia's new defense minister answers the phone, it means that Russia still ignores the United States and does not want to directly attack the US mainland. As long as Russia does not attack the US mainland, European countries will not be threatened by "artillery battles", and they will continue to encourage Ukraine and Russians to fight for their heads.
In the end, this is to prove to the Ukrainian army that the US military still has a deterrent effect against the Russian army, and the Ukrainian army can just let it go. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the defense ministers of Russia and the United States spoke on three phone calls, and after each phone call, the military aid received by the Ukrainian army will increase, and the losses suffered by the Russian army will be greater.
On May 13, 2022, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin invited Russian Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu for the first telephone exchange since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. At that time, the Russian army after withdrawing from Kyiv advanced smoothly on the frontal battlefield, not only taking Mariupol, but also preparing to advance the "Severodonetsk-Lisichansk" campaign. However, after the telephone talks between the two sides, NATO immediately increased its military assistance to Ukraine, and the "Hippocampus" rocket launcher was officially unveiled on the battlefield in Ukraine a month later. The Ukrainian army gradually came out of the blind circle period of the war, and began to carry out long-range strikes against the Russian army, which completely changed the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, disrupted the Russian army's plan for a quick victory, and the war in Ukraine began to show a stalemate, and the two sides carried out a protracted war of attrition.
On October 21, 2022, after the sudden counteroffensive launched by the Ukrainian army in the autumn achieved obvious results in the Kharkiv direction, the Russian army changed its commander, General Surovikin stabilized the position of the Russian army, and the partial mobilization of 300,000 Russian veterans and the referendum on the accession of the four eastern regions of Ukraine to Russia were also successfully completed. U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin invited Russian Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu to make the second call since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and after once again probing the Russian army's cards, the Ukrainian army recaptured Kherson within 20 days. More than a month later, on December 5, the Ukrainian army attacked the Engels airfield where Russia deployed strategic bombers for the first time, opening the curtain on the large-scale long-range attack on the Russian mainland by the Ukrainian army.
On March 15, 2023, the "Wagner" forces fought in Bakhmut at a critical moment in the battle of "meat grinder", US Secretary of Defense Austin invited Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to have the third call since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, nominally to discuss the US military "Reaper" drone was shot down by Russian fighters in the Black Sea, but in fact it is still to stabilize the restless heart of the Russian army and persuade Russia to be beaten on the battlefield in Ukraine with peace of mind. As a result, three months later, the Ukrainian army not only launched a long-planned summer counteroffensive, but the United States also began to approve the army's tactical missile system with a range of more than 300 kilometers to fight in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine has become more and more prominent. In order to get more NATO military aid, the Ukrainian army is not only planning a counteroffensive on the Kharkiv border to threaten the security of the Russian mainland, but even in order to give F-16 fighters to enter Ukraine to participate in the war, the Ukrainian army has increased its long-range attacks on Crimea and the Russian mainland with American missiles and rockets, so that the beaches of Crimea have become the attack points of the Ukrainian army. This kind of madness is definitely difficult for the Russian army to accept.
Therefore, in order to keep the retaliation of the Russian army within a controllable range, the US Secretary of Defense once again invited the Russian Defense Minister to make a phone call. I believe that the moment he heard the voice of Russian Defense Minister Belousov on the phone, the US Secretary of Defense relaxed his hanging heart. It doesn't matter what Belousov says, as long as he picks up the phone, it means that the current Russian army has not yet decided to break out in silence.