Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his counterpart in Russia by phone on Friday in an hour-long call that marks the first exchange between leaders of the two militaries since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.Both militaries confirmed the call publicly, with the Pentagon stating later on Friday that Austin initiated the call with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. A senior U.S. defense official said at the end of March that Russia at the time had rebuffed U.S. attempts to connect through some sort of channel. An official said Friday that the U.S. has continued to initiate communications between the two militaries since then.