Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu on Sunday held separate phone calls with his American, Turkish, French and British counterparts.
The conversation is his second with United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in just three days. According to a Russian readout of his calls with UK's Ben Wallace, France's Sebastien Lecornu and Turkey's Hulusi Akar, Shoigu expressed his concerns about Ukraine's alleged plan to use a so-called "dirty bomb" against Russia. The British Ministry of Defence said Shoigu told Wallace that Ukraine was planning to escalate the ongoing conflict with actions "facilitated by Western countries." "The Defence Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation," the British ministry said.
No information about Shoygu's talks with Austin was provided by either side.
