MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and his United States counterpart Lloyd Austin spoke by phone on Tuesday to discuss the conflict in Ukraine, Moscow’s defense ministry said.

The US is one of Ukraine’s staunchest military backers, contributing billions of dollars’ worth of aid and drawing condemnation from Russia, which has accused Washington of “direct involvement” in the hostilities.

Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement that the conversation took place “at the initiative of the American side.”

“Andrei Belousov pointed to the danger of further escalation of the situation in connection with the ongoing supply of US weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” it continued. “Other issues were also discussed.”

Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder also reported the phone call took place, saying in a statement that Austin had “emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.”

He added it was Austin’s first call with Belousov, who was appointed in May.

Washington recently gave Kyiv the green light to use long-range US weapons on parts of Russia near the beleaguered city of Kharkiv.

On Monday, the Kremlin warned the US of “consequences” and summoned its ambassador after Moscow said a Ukrainian strike with a US missile in Crimea killed four people.

Ryder said at the time that the Ukrainians “make their own decisions.”

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, meanwhile, blamed Russia for the fighting and reiterated the stance of most of the world — that Crimea, unilaterally annexed by Moscow in 2014, remains part of Ukraine.

Moscow bans EU media

Meanwhile, Russia said Tuesday it was blocking access to dozens of European media outlets, including Agence France-Presse (AFP) websites, in response to the European Union (EU) slapping broadcasting bans on several Russian outlets last month.

France’s Le Monde, Germany’s Der Spiegel and Spain’s El Mundo were among the media outlets Russia named, as was the website of digital newspaper Politico.

The announcement comes after the European Union unveiled a ban on four Kremlin-controlled media outlets in May, accusing them of being “instrumental in bringing forward and supporting” Moscow’s Ukraine offensive.

Russia denounced the bloc’s move as “politically motivated” and said it had been forced “to take mirror and proportionate countermeasures.”

Its foreign ministry listed 81 websites in 25 EU countries and some that operate across Europe that were being banned.

They included AFP’s homepage afp.com and its client portal afpforum.com.