The Russian Defense Minister and his American counterpart exchanged views over the Ukrainian crisis by telephone

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Wednesday that Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, held a telephone conversation and exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine. The Ministry said in a statement: 'At the initiative of the American side, a telephone conversation took place between Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.' It added that the two Defense Ministers exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, noting that Belousov indicated the risk of further escalation of the situation regarding the supply of Ukrainian forces with American weapons. Russia considers that arms supplies to Ukraine interfere with the possibility of resolving the conflict, and that direct participation of NATO countries in the conflict is 'playing with fire.' Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any shipment containing weapons to Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia, adding that the United States and NATO are dir ectly involved in the conflict, not only by providing weapons, but also training personnel in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and other countries. . The Kremlin also announced that supplying Ukraine with weapons from the West does not contribute to the negotiations and will have a negative impact. Source: National Iraqi News Agency