Russian-made communication technology is being used by the White House as a direct line between Washington and Moscow, Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec has said.
A direct link between the Kremlin and the White House became operational on Aug. 30, 1963, a year after the Cuban missile crisis that had almost led to nuclear war. The teletype was replaced by fax machines and, in the past decade, computer communications.
A Rostec unit that specializes in encryption and secure communications, Avtomatika, reportedly supplies the White House with products that allow Trump to communicate directly with President Vladimir Putin.
“U.S. experts tested and recommended to equip the Moscow-Washington direct line with the system,” an unnamed Rostec representative told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday.
“In all its years of existence, the direct line uses only Russian-made equipment,” the representative said without elaborating.
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