Russia "Stop use of Kremlin-White House special emergency hotline"

A hotline from the U.S. and Russian leaders for security emergencies is not being used, Russia's Kremlin says.

When asked if the special emergency hotline was still working today (20th) local time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no, according to Tas news agency.

The hotline between the two countries has been established and operated in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 for emergency communications between the former Soviet Union and U.S. leaders.

Peskov explained that there are other communication channels besides the hotline between the two countries, but added that the two countries have not taken advantage of it recently.

This means that there was no communication between the two leaders even though the U.S. recently approved Ukraine to strike the Russian mainland with U.S. long-range missiles, and Russia revised its nuclear doctrine to ease the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons.

Citing information from the Kremlin's official website, the TAS news agency said there had been no phone call between the leaders of the two countries since February 2022, just before Ukraine's "special military operation."

Peskov explained that the last time the president's spokespeople from both countries had contacted each other was during former President Barack Obama's tenure, adding that he had not had the opportunity to communicate with the spokespeople of former President Donald Trump and current President Biden.

He also said he did not know Caroline Levitt, whom Trump, the next U.S. president, has named as White House press secretary, but was ready to talk.