Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held telephone talks with the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, according to the Russian military department.
As stated, the talks were held “at the initiative of the American side.” The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation did not report on the content of the conversation.
The Pentagon has yet to comment on the talks.
Update. At the US Department of Defense confirmedthat Shoigu and Austin held telephone conversations about the “recent unprofessional, dangerous and reckless behavior” of Russian pilots in international airspace over the Black Sea. US drones will continue to fly “wherever international law allows,” the US Secretary of Defense said.
Po data CNN, the head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, plans to have a telephone conversation with the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov about the incident with an American drone that fell into the Black Sea on March 14. This will be their first conversation since December 2022. At the same time, the TV channel notes that such negotiations usually take place after the negotiations of the defense ministers.
The American reconnaissance drone MQ-9 Reaper fell into the Black Sea on the morning of March 14. According to the US version, the drone crashed after a collision with a Russian Su-27 fighter jet over neutral waters. The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the crash of the drone, but did not report a collision.
The US State Department believes that the collision of a Russian aircraft with an American drone probably happened unintentionally as a result of the incompetence of Russian pilots.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that Washington does not want anyone other than the Americans to get the drone. US authorities have “taken steps” to protect the drone, he said. According to CNN, before the fall, sensitive data was remotely erased from the drone. Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev said that Russia will try to pick up the wreckage of the drone from the bottom of the Black Sea.
