A Russian fighter jet has flown a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft over the Pacific Ocean, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday – as tensions rise between Moscow and Washington.
Tass, a Russian news agency, reported that ministry officials located a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance plane over the Pacific Ocean off the southeast coast of the 777-mile Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s eastern border.
“A MiG-31 fighter jet was scrambled from an airport in the Kamchatka region to identify and escort the aircraft,” the statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense said. “The crew identified it as a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft.”
The Russian fighter jet then returned to its home airfield after it diverted the American plane away from the Russian border, Tass reported.
“The Ministry of Defense said that the flight of the Russian fighter jet was carried out in accordance with the international rules for the use of airspace,” the office said.
A 28-second track posted on Twitter early Friday, the Russian plane shows the American plane escorted.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense is investigating the meeting, Fox News reported Friday.
The meeting in the air comes just one day after the government in Biden imposed new sanctions aimed at several Russian officials and companies, as well as the expulsion of ten Russian diplomats.
The comprehensive measures are intended to punish Russia for the SolarWinds cap of federal agencies and the country’s attempts to interfere in US elections, which Russia has denied.
In a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, President Biden also pushed the idea of a personal summit in the coming months.
Russia’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, has warned of “inevitable” retaliation, saying “Washington must realize it will have to pay the price for the deterioration of bilateral ties.”
Russia also warned the US on Tuesday to stay away from the Black Sea ‘for their own good’ after the government in Biden said it planned to send two destroyers to the region in response to Moscow’s growing military presence near Ukraine.
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