U.S. and Russian chiefs of staff held phone call, discussed Ukraine - RIA

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies before a House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on the Defense Department budget request, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 11, 2022. REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson

Russia's Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley held a phone call, RIA news agency reported on Thursday, citing the Russian defence ministry.

They discussed issues of "mutual interest", including Ukraine, RIA said.

The call took place six days after a phone conversation between the defence ministers of the two countries, their first since Russia launched what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

FILE PHOTO: Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov delivers a speech during the annual Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS) in Moscow, Russia April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

(Reporting by Reuters)