MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. Head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Valery Gerasimov held phone negotiations with Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, the Russian Defense Ministry announced Wednesday.

"In development of the March 15, 2023 phone talks between Russian Defense Minister and the Secretary of Defense of United States of America, a phone call took place between Head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, First Deputy Defense Minister Army General Valery Gerasimov and Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley," the Ministry said.

The drone situation

Previously, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Russian Aerospace Forces detected a US MQ-9 drone flying near the Crimean Peninsula. The drone was reportedly flying with its transponder turned off and "in violation of the boundaries of the temporary airspace use area, defined in order to carry out the special military operation, which has been conveyed to all airspace users and published in accordance to the international norms."

The Defense Ministry added that the drone’s abrupt maneuvering caused it to lose control, lose altitude and crash into the water. Russian jet fighters did not use its weapons and did not collide with the drone, and successfully returned to their bases, the Ministry said.

The US European Command claims that a Russian Su-27 fighter damaged the drone’s propeller, which caused it to crash into the Black Sea.