US reveals members of ongoing negotiations with Russia, considers stopping military expansion in an Asian ally

At a regular press briefing, the head of the US State Department press service, Tammy Bruce, said that the new round of negotiations between Russia and the US on resolving the Ukraine issue will not take place at the ministerial level.

Russian and US delegations at the first Foreign Ministerial-level talks in Saudi Arabia, February 18. (Source: TASS)

"These will be senior officials. That's all I can tell you. Not ministerial people. These will be senior officials discussing the technical framework of a prospective ceasefire in Ukraine. It will take place in the coming days," Ms Bruce said.

Ms. Bruce finds it difficult to explain whether such contacts can take place in a trilateral format - with the participation of not only Russia and the United States, but also Ukraine. "This is probably still being discussed, organized. Therefore, I cannot talk about the specifics of the agreements. But technically, it will be enough to work with what was agreed during the phone call (March 18) between the presidents of Russia and the United States. There will be people who can do this," said the head of the US State Department press service.

Earlier, on March 18, US President's special envoy Steve Witkoff announced in an interview with Fox News that new contacts between Russia and the US will take place "on March 23 in Jeddah", Saudi Arabia.

In another development, on March 19, CNN reported that the US may cancel plans to expand its military forces in Japan in an effort to cut spending at the Department of Defense.

CNN and NBC News, which first reported the plan on March 18 based on a Pentagon briefing document, said the cancellation could save about $1 billion.

The US has about 54,000 troops stationed in Japan, along with hundreds of aircraft and Washington’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier strike group. The two countries are also pursuing a number of defense cooperation projects, including joint missile production, building a sustainable supply chain, and repairing warships and aircraft.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/my-tiet-lo-thanh-phan-dam-phan-tiep-voi-nga-can-nhac-ngung-mo-rong-luc-luong-quan-su-tai-mot-dong-minh-chau-a-308198.html