Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke to the defence ministers of the US, UK, France and Turkey over the phone on Sunday to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Shoigu spoke with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday for the second time in three days and held a flurry of calls with three other counterparts from NATO countries.
Moscow provided no details on Shoigu’s conversation with Austin, which came after the two men spoke on Friday for the first time since May. Its readouts on the other calls said Shoigu had said the situation in Ukraine was worsening.
Russia’s defence minister warned of “further, uncontrolled escalation” in the war in Ukraine in phone calls with his French, Turkish and British counterparts.
Shoigu also conveyed concern that Ukraine could detonate a “dirty bomb” – a device laced with radioactive material. Russia has provided no evidence to substantiate such a claim.
Ukraine has denied that it is planning to use a “dirty bomb” against Russian forces after the Russian defence minister’s telephone calls with NATO counterparts.
“Russian lies about Ukraine allegedly planning to use a ‘dirty bomb’ are as absurd as they are dangerous,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on social media.
Previous Russian assertions that Ukraine might resort to using banned weapons, such as, biological arms have stirred concerns in the West that Moscow might be preparing to stage “false flag” attacks and blame them on Kyiv.
According to the Pentagon’s readout of the call between the US and Russian defence ministers, Austin told Shoigu he “rejected any pretext for Russian escalation”. Austin also “reaffirmed the value of continued communication”.
The White House National Security Council in a statement said it rejected Shoigu’s false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.
“The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” it said.
Channels of communication
There was no indication from the Russian side that the conversations had produced any positive results. They showed, however, that Russia and members of the US-led NATO alliance are actively maintaining channels of communication at a time of rising international concern about a possible nuclear escalation.
With Russia reeling from successive defeats in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has said it would resort to nuclear weapons if necessary to defend its “territorial integrity.” US President Joe Biden has said that the world is closer to “Armageddon” than at any time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
NATO last week launched its annual nuclear deterrence exercise and has said it expects Russia to hold drills shortly to test the readiness of its own nuclear forces.
A top Russian diplomat was quoted after the Shoigu-Austin call on Friday as saying that “misunderstandings must be cleared up so that there are no accidents.”
French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu after Sunday’s call said he had reaffirmed France’s desire for a peaceful resolution to the war in Ukraine, adding that Paris refused to get drawn into any form of escalation, especially regarding nuclear options.
Further, it was reported that British Defence Minister, Ben Wallace, refuted claims by Shoigu that Western countries were facilitating a plan by Kyiv to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.
“The Defence Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation,” Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
