The US Is Not Trying High-Level Diplomacy to End the Fighting in Ukraine

On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was ready to do what’s necessary to end the fighting in Ukraine, but that doesn’t appear to apply to high-level diplomacy.

The Pentagon said Friday that top US military leaders haven’t spoken with their Russian counterparts since Russia’s attack on Ukraine began.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said neither Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin nor Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley have spoken with Russian military officials. “I’m not aware of any other senior leaders here at the Department of Defense,” he said.

In recent days, the US and Russian militaries set up a deconfliction line to held avoid miscalculations that could lead to wider escalations. But Kirby said the line is at the “lower operational level.”