Andrey Belousov

The defense ministers of Russia and the United States engaged in a telephone conversation for the first time in over a year, reported Reuters. The two sides presented starkly different accounts of the discussion.

According to a report from TASS, Russian President Vladimir Putin is making a change in leadership by replacing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. The news, shared on the official Telegram channel of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament in Moscow, indicates that Andrey Belousov, a former deputy prime minister in previous Russian governments, is being proposed for the position.