US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby. File photoWASHINGTON, May 10.The US and British defense chiefs will hold talks on Ukraine on Wednesday in Washington, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing on Tuesday. «We are waiting for Mr. (Ben) Wallace to return to the Pentagon I think this will be his second meeting with Secretary Austin at the Pentagon,» Kirby said at a briefing when asked about Wednesday's upcoming meeting. According to him, the main topic of negotiations will be the situation in Ukraine. that before the end of the month, the allies plan to hold a regular meeting of the contact group on Ukraine. It is planned that the meeting will be held in a virtual format and, according to Kirby, may subsequently become monthly. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24th. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
