Ukraine war: US and Russian defense ministers speak as tensions rise over Crimea attack

The US and Russian defence secretaries spoke by phone on Tuesday, a rare contact between the two powers and tensions rising after Moscow blamed Washington for a deadly attack by Ukraine on Russian-annexed Crimea over the weekend.

Reports from both sides about the conversation – it was the first between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the new Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, who succeeded Sergei Shoigu in May – varied widely.

The Pentagon said Austin and Belousov discussed the importance of open lines of communication.

Austin initiated the conversation and it was the first such phone call since March 2023, Pentagon spokesman and U.S. Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters.

However, the Russian Defense Ministry said Belousov had warned Austin about the dangers of further US arms deliveries to Ukraine in the 28-month war.

“AR Belousov pointed out the danger of further escalation of the situation due to the continued supply of American weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces,” the ministry’s statement on the messaging app Telegram said after the phone call.

Following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, relations between Moscow and Washington have sunk to their lowest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Diplomatic contacts between the government of President Vladimir Putin and the government of President Joe Biden have now been reduced “to an absolute minimum,” Moscow said last week.

Over the weekend, Russia said the United States was directly responsible for a Ukrainian attack on the Crimean peninsula that used five US ATACMS missiles, killing four people and injuring dozens.

The Pentagon said earlier this week that Ukraine makes its own targeting decisions.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and considers it an integral part of its territory, although most of the world condemned the annexation and considers the Black Sea peninsula to be part of Ukraine.

American arms deliveries to Ukraine resumed in April after Congress approved a $61 billion aid package. The United States says it supports Ukraine’s demands for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine’s post-Soviet borders.

On Tuesday, Sergei Ryabkov, the deputy foreign minister in charge of Moscow’s arms control, warned that if the West underestimates Moscow’s determination, this could have “tragic and fatal” consequences, as the US and its allies are dealing with a major nuclear power – namely Russia.

In a phone call with Russian President Shoigu in 2023, Austin pointed out the risky behavior of Russian fighter pilots that led to the crash of a US drone in the Black Sea near Ukraine.

Earlier on Tuesday, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Shoigu and Russian army chief Valery Gerasimov. They are accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

Additional reporting from Bloomberg