Amid rising tensions between Moscow and Washington over the war in Ukraine, the US and Russian Defense Departments have set up a hotline to reduce the risk of unintended incidents between the two nuclear powers.

As several American media reported, referring to a senior Pentagon official, the security coordination mechanism was put in place earlier this week, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was putting his conventional and nuclear deterrent forces “on combat readiness.”

Majid Sattar

Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.

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The Pentagon official was quoted as saying that security coordination was chosen to prevent misjudgments, military incidents and escalation.

Washington basically maintains several channels to talk to the Russian side about important security issues in emergencies.

The military channel, which emanates from the European Command of the American Armed Forces (EUCOM) in Stuttgart, was set up on March 1 at the American request, it said.

"Relaxed in view of our own nuclear deterrent"

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby hinted at security coordination earlier this week.

He reiterated that the US administration has no intention of imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but pointed out that the airspace over Ukraine is contested and borders directly on NATO territory.

Coordination measures are therefore being examined in order to avoid accidents.

Security coordination (“deconflicting”) had already been set up for the airspace over the civil war country after the Russian intervention in Syria.

In Soviet times there was also a permanent telex connection ("Red Telephone") between Moscow and Washington, which was set up as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

After Putin made the announcement about Russia's nuclear deployment on Sunday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's spokesman said Washington could not confirm changes on the Russian side at this time.

The situation will continue to be monitored.

Austin, Kirby said, is relaxed about its own nuclear deterrent and America's ability to defend itself and allies.

President Joe Biden had refrained from complying with Putin's announcement and declaring a state of defense "Defcon 3".

"Not an easy decision"

Washington had also postponed a planned test of a long-range missile as a sign of de-escalation.

Austin has ordered the test of a Minuteman III ICBM scheduled for this week to be suspended for the time being, Kirby said.

This is intended to show that the United States has no intention of engaging in actions "that could be misunderstood or misconstrued."

"We didn't make this decision lightly, but to show that we are a responsible nuclear power." Kirby emphasized that the test was by no means canceled, but that there was no new date yet.

In such missile tests, which take place regularly, accuracy and reliability are usually checked.

Minuteman long-range missiles can be armed with nuclear warheads.

Kirby said the US government currently sees no threat to NATO allies from the Russian army.

Referring to arms supplies for Kyiv, he added: "We will stand by the Ukrainian armed forces, as we have done, as other NATO allies have done.

And we will continue to find ways to help them defend themselves.” He would not be more specific and would not provide an “inventory” as it would not be useful for the security of Ukrainians.