(Reuters) – Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke with U.S. Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday for the second time in three days and
held a flurry of calls with three other counterparts from NATO countries..

Moscow provided no details on the conversation with Austin, which came
after the two men spoke on Friday for the first time since May. Its
readouts on the other calls said Shoigu had said the situation in Ukraine
was worsening.

https://whbl.com/2022/10/23/russias-shoigu-holds-second-call-with-u-s-defense-secretary-in-three-days/

“They discussed the situation in Ukraine which is rapidly deteriorating,”
the Russian defence ministry said of Shoigu’s call with French Defence
Minister Sebastien Lecornu. “It is trending towards further uncontrolled
escalation.”

Shoigu spoke separately to Turkey’s defence minister Hulusi Akar and
Britain’s Ben Wallace.

There was no indication from the Russian side that the conversations had
produced any positive result. They showed, however, that Russia and
members of the U.S.-led NATO alliance are actively maintaining channels of
communication at a time of rising international concern about a possible
nuclear escalation.

With Russia reeling from successive defeats in Ukraine, President Vladimir
Putin has said it would resort to nuclear weapons if necessary to defend
its “territorial integrity”. U.S. President Joe Biden has said the world
is closer to “Armageddon” than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile
Crisis.

NATO last week launched its annual nuclear deterrence exercise and has
said it expects Russia to hold drills shortly to test the readiness of its
own nuclear forces.

A top Russian diplomat was quoted after the Shoigu-Austin call last Friday
as saying that “misunderstandings must be cleared up so that there are no
accidents”.

French minister Lecornu said after Sunday’s call that he had reaffirmed
France’s desire for a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, and that
Paris refused to get drawn into any form of escalation.

Britain said Wallace had “refuted” claims by Shoigu that Western countries
were facilitating a plan by Kyiv to escalate the conflict.

Shoigu’s ministry said he had told his French, Turkish and British
counterparts of Moscow’s concern that Ukraine could detonate a “dirty
bomb” – a device laced with radioactive material. Russia has provided no
evidence to substantiate such a claim.

### - hmm, everything is saying/suggesting that an escalation is immanent,
and it can't just be that of ukrainian forces again attacking the russians
in their usual manner... that, or they're planning some kinda
unholy/massive + unexpected (possibly even coordinated) assault that
they're ALL afraid is maybe gonna provoke russia beyond a point and thus
draw down a dreadful response?

something's brewing in wallyworld and it ain't gonna be pretty.

damn!