NEW YORK, July 27. /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov and US Defense Chief Lloyd Austin discussed Ukraine's upcoming ‘covert operation’ against Russia in a telephone conversation on July 12, the New York Times said.

US officials told the newspaper that the Russian side allegedly intended to find out whether the United States had anything to do with Kiev's plans. The sources said that the Pentagon was not aware of the Ukrainian operation, but took Moscow's warning "seriously enough to contact the Ukrainians and say, essentially, "if you’re thinking about doing something like this, don’t."

According to the newspaper, the Ukrainian leadership does not always share with the United States plans for military operations, which displeases Washington. The Pentagon refused to answer the question whether the heads of the top Russian and American defense officials actually discussed Kiev's operation, as well as whether this topic was touched upon in Austin's conversation with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

On July 12, Belousov had his second phone conversation with Austin after his appointment as Defense Minister. According to the Defense Ministry, the sides discussed the issue of reducing the risk of a possible escalation.