At a reception held in the Russian Cultural Center in Washington DC, the Russian delegation, headed by Deputy Minister of Defense in charge of memorializing the fallen at the defense of the Fatherland Andrei Tarakanov, presented their American counterparts with newly declassified details regarding the interrogations of captured American pilots during the Vietnam War.
“Today, we have presented the Americans with five documents regarding the interrogations of their pilots that were brought down by enemy fire and subsequently captured. The American side was not previously aware of the existence of these documents.” Mr. Tarakanov was quoted as saying.
Meetings of this kind between the Americans and the Russians are held on a quarterly basis and on the American side are headed up by Air Force General Robert Furlong.
The last meeting, in addition to the new Vietnam War documents, dealt also with other engagements in which both American and Russian forces were involved, whether directly or indirectly. These conflicts include World war II, the Korean War, and the Afghanistan – Soviet war of the early 1980’s.
The Next two meetings of the joint task force are scheduled for August in Washington, DC and for November in Moscow, the Russian Federation.
