Austin notes importance of maintaining direct communication with Shoigu

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said it’s critical to maintain direct communication with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu, Report informs referring to TASS.

"I think we have to have the ability to talk to friends. We have to have the ability to talk to adversaries. It's important to have those channels open. Even in the height of all the things that have happened with respect to Russia and Ukraine, I've had the ability to pick up the phone and talk to the minister of defense of Russia. And I think that's a critical capability that we have to maintain, to manage crisis going forward," he said in comments released by the Pentagon.

Austin made the remarks when asked about the resumption of military-to-military communication between the US and China.