The defense ministers of Russia and the United States held a telephone conversation for the first time in more than a year, it was reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
The agency notes that the two sides have presented deeply divergent versions of the conversation.
The Pentagon said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov discussed the importance of open lines of communication. The conversation was held at Austin's initiative and is the first of this level since March last year, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia said that Belousov warned Austin about the dangerous consequences of continued US arms supplies to Ukraine during the 28-month-long conflict with Russia, TASS reported.
„Belousov pointed out the danger of further escalation of the situation due to the continued supplies of American weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, the ministry wrote in a statement published on the social network “Telegram”. The ministry announced that the two ministers also discussed other topics.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, its annexation of four Ukrainian regions and its slow advance in the eastern part of the neighboring country have brought relations between Washington and Moscow to their lowest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Reuters notes .
Last weekend, Moscow said the United States was responsible for a Ukrainian attack on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula with five US-supplied missiles that killed four people. US arms shipments to Ukraine resumed in April when Congress approved a $61 billion aid package for Kiev. The US has said it supports Ukraine's demands that Russian forces withdraw from the country and that its 1991 borders be restored.
During his last such conversation with then Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Austin pointed out the risky behavior of Russian fighter jet pilots who caused the downing of an American drone in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine.