Russia has intercepted US aircraft flying over the Mediterranean Sea. That’s right, a Russian plane intercepted a US plane that flew in the international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea three times in just under three hours on Tuesday, according to the 6th Fleet of the United States.
In fact, the 6th Fleet assures in a statement on Tuesday, “On June 4, 2019, at US P-8A Poseidon aircraft flying in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea was intercepted by a Russian SU-35 three times over the course of 175 minutes”. Also said, the second of the three interactions “was determined to be unsafe” due to the Russian aircraft “conducting a high speed pass directly in front of the aircraft mission, which put our pilots and crew at risk”. The American aircraft was maintaining international standards and “did not provoke this Russian activity”, the statement continued.
Interception in the midst of tensions
It should be noted that the 6th fleet ensures that “While the Russian aircraft was operating in international airspace, this interaction was irresponsible. We expect these to behave within international standards to ensure safety and to prevent incidents”, adding that “unsafe actions increase the risk of miscalculation and potential for midair collisions”.
Likewise, the Russian army disputed on Wednesday the characterization of the interception of the Navy of the United States as insecure.
In fact, on Wednesday the Russian Ministry of Defense expressed to the reporters, “All flights of Russian aircraft were carried out in accordance with the international rules for the use of airspace”, and also said, “There were no questions or complaints from the American center of flight deconfliction line in Syria to the Russian command”.
There is no doubt that the latest interception comes amid tensions with Russia over a wide range of geopolitical problems and weeks after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Russian Vladimir Putin in the resort city of Sochi, where he warned to Russia about the possibility of interfering in the US elections.
Source: Barbara Starr, Caroline Kelly and Zachary Cohen | CNN
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