US and Russian military chiefs resume contact to discuss drone incident

The US military said it ditched the Air Force MQ-9 Reaper in the sea after a Russian fighter jet struck its propeller.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin attends a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at the Pentagon in Washington (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has said he spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday about the destruction of a US drone over the Black Sea, which had brought the two countries closest to direct conflict since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

It was the first call between Mr Austin and defence secretary Sergei Shoigu since October.