Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had a telephone conversation with Pentagon President Lloyd Austin. The conversation was initiated by Washington, which was cited in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
The US Department of Defense said the ministers discussed the incident with a US drone over the Black Sea. Austin told the Russian minister: The US will continue to act “where permitted by international law” says the Pentagon.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that Shoigu told his colleague that the cause of the incident was the US non-compliance with the restricted flight zone.
“During the meeting, it was noted that the flights of American strategic unmanned aerial vehicles off the Crimea were provocative and this situation created the preconditions for the escalation of the situation in the Black Sea region,” the ministry said.
According to the Minister of Defense, Russia will respond proportionally to all provocations.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov previously denied the US accusations that an American drone crashed into the Black Sea due to the “unenvironmentally friendly” actions of the Russian Su-27 fighter jet. Earlier, the US European Command said that the Su-27 deliberately flew in front of the drone and spilled fuel on it several times, as a result of which the main rotor of the MQ-9 Reaper was damaged and fuel got into the drone. sea.
“Maybe it was not necessary to fly there, who should not fly? Then it will be environmentally friendly, ”Peskov told the Rossiya-1 TV channel.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also commented on the incident with an American drone. He stated that they were “continually trying to seek some form of provocation” in Washington.
“Our military completely ignores that after the special military operations began, the relevant coastal areas of the Black Sea in certain places were declared with limited status for the use of any aircraft,” Lavrov said. aforementioned.
According to him, any event that causes a conflict between the two nuclear powers “always poses very serious risks” to global security.
In response, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, said that the USA is actively reconnaissance in the Black Sea and its targets are known to Russia. According to him, the drone incident confirms the “direct involvement” of the United States in the conflict in Ukraine.
He also said that Russia will try to retrieve the wreckage of the MQ-9 drone for inspection. “I don’t know if we will get it, but what we have to do is … And we will certainly do it,” said Patrushev.
According to the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, Russia has the technical capabilities to find and examine the wreckage of the drone.
“We know and understand in some detail what goals the Americans have in connection with their intelligence activities, the use of technical means, and we try to identify the objects and regions that most interest them,” said Naryshkin.
US deleted drone data
The American television channel CNN reported that the USA remotely deleted sensitive data from a drone that crashed into the Black Sea. It is not specified which data are in question. According to US officials, the data was deleted just after the drone collided with a Russian Su-27 fighter jet, but before it crashed into the Black Sea.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Russia’s actions in the MQ-9 incident were most likely not intentional.
“The crash of an American military reconnaissance plane into the Black Sea after it was intercepted by Russian aircraft was most likely an unintentional act by Russia,” quoted Reuters.
He also said that the US is considering releasing a video of the event. According to him, the video shows how the Russian fighter aircraft approached and “seems to actually collide with an American drone, in a completely unprofessional manner, without any control over the actions taken.”
White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said the last thing Washington would want is for the situation in Ukraine to turn into a US-Russian conflict.
“What we want least, and frankly, what everybody wants least, is for the conflict in Ukraine to escalate to the point where it becomes something between the United States and Russia,” Kirby told CNN.
He also expressed doubts that the US could take the drone, “because there is very, very deep water in the Black Sea where it crashed.” A White House spokesman added that Washington is trying to “minimize its intelligence value” for those who can spot the drone before the United States.
In the background, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the United States and Russia to engage in dialogue and avoid escalating tensions.
“We have zero knowledge of exactly what happened. The only information we have is from the media. “The response of the UN Secretary-General will be what you would expect: he will call for dialogue and avoid any escalation,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said at a briefing.
What is known about the event
The US Armed Forces European Command reported that the American MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle crashed in the Black Sea on the evening of March 14.
According to the American side, two Russian Su-27 fighter jets intercepted a US Air Force Intelligence Agency drone in international airspace in an “unsafe and unprofessional” manner. The US said that the Russian plane crashed into the propeller of the UAV, after which the UAV should have been submerged in international waters. James Hecker, the commander of the US Air Force in Europe and Africa, claims that the actions of the Su-27 almost caused both vehicles to crash.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the Russian fighters did not make contact with the American drone and did not use airborne weapons. According to the agency, an American drone with its transponders turned off flew in the direction of the Russian border in the Crimea region, violating “the borders of the regime zone to use the airspace.”
Therefore, according to the Ministry of Defense, Russian fighters were lifted into the air to detect the intruder. The Department of Defense said that the American unmanned aerial vehicle “acquired into uncontrolled flight with loss of altitude as a result of sharp maneuvers and collided with water”.
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After the drone accident, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov was summoned to the US State Department. Antonov described the meeting as constructive and said that it took place in a “special military operations zone”, which Moscow wanted “not to enter, not to enter”, according to the diplomat.
CNN suggests this event could affect Washington’s military aid to Ukraine. According to the channel’s watcher, the event could turn into a debate in favor of the stance of former US President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who have called for reduced aid to Ukraine.
The columnist of the channel said, “Trump’s III.
According to him, statements by these Republican presidential candidates will only become more common after an incident with a drone over the Black Sea brings the world one step closer to the scenario that “everyone fears” – a direct military confrontation between Russia and the United States. States.
Another possible outcome of the drone accident could be the US developing a strategy for the Black Sea region. US senators Jean Shaheen of the Democratic Party and Mitt Romney of the Republican Party presented a bill requiring the White House to develop a strategy to strengthen military and economic ties with Black Sea countries and to contain Russia.
“Event [с беспилотником] “It shows how important it is for us to have a more comprehensive approach to the region,” Shaheen said. “We cannot leave Putin, who has decided to invade Ukraine and continue his aggression in the region, the right to determine the rules of the Black Sea,” said Romney, one of the authors of the document.
He urged the Joe Biden administration to develop “a credible Black Sea strategy to strengthen coordination between the United States, NATO and our Black Sea partners.”
Source: Gazeta
Emma Matthew is a political analyst for “Social Bites”. With a keen understanding of the inner workings of government and a passion for politics, she provides insightful and informative coverage of the latest political developments.