MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/. Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov said on Sunday he had spoken over the phone with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III to discuss Ukraine’s counteroffensive and further steps to strengthen the Ukrainian army’s combat potential.

"Had a phone conversation with my friend and colleague Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III," he wrote on his Twitter account. "We also discussed the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive and the next steps in strengthening our Defense Forces."

Apart from that, in his words, they discussed the recent developments in Russia.

In an interview with the Fox News television channel earlier on Sunday, Reznikov said that expectations from the current counteroffensive were too high.

The Ukrainian army has been making futile attempts to stage an offensive since the beginning of the month. Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolay Patrushev said on June 22 that since the beginning of the counteroffensive, Ukraine’s losses had exceeded 13,000 troops. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian forces are not seeing success in any area.