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U.S. Envoy To Kosovo Says EU Plan For Normalizing Relations With Serbia Is 'Significant Step' [1]
["Rfe Rl'S Balkan Service"]
Date: 2023-03
The United States has blamed Russia for the downing of a U.S. spy drone into the Black Sea and warned Moscow to use more caution in international airspace as the Kremlin denied the accusation, characterizing bilateral relations as being in a "lamentable state."
Washington says Russia committed "a brazen violation of International law" caused by "unsafe and unprofessional" behavior after Russian fighter jets dumped fuel on the MQ-9 drone on March 14 in an apparent attempt to blind or damage it.
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They then flew in front of the aircraft before one of the jets collided with the drone's propeller, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said. The drone has yet to be recovered.
"This hazardous episode is a part of a pattern of aggressive, risky, and unsafe actions by Russian pilots in international airspace," U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on March 15 at the start of a meeting of countries supporting Ukraine's fight against invading Russian forces.
"Make no mistake: The United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows. And it is incumbent upon Russia to operate its military aircraft in a safe and professional manner," he added.
The New York Times reported that the MQ-9 Reaper drone was flying from its base in Romania and was carrying out planned reconnaissance.
White House spokesman John Kirby said the Russian ambassador to Washington had been summoned over the issue and warned that Russian aircraft have to be more careful in international airspace to avoid an event that could escalate tensions.
For its part, Moscow continued to deny its aircraft caused the drone, which was flying over international airspace near the Crimean Peninsula, to crash. It said "sharp manoeuvres" taken by the drone caused it to lose control and that it was flying close to Russian air space with its transponders off, forcing Moscow to scramble its fighters to identify the aircraft.
Moscow illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 15 that there had been no high-level contact with the United States over the incident, but he added that relations between the two superpowers were "at their lowest point, in a very lamentable state."
Tensions between the West and Russia have been running high for more than a year after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A German government spokesperson called the drone incident a "cause for concern."
U.S. military officials said they had to crash the drone into the Black Sea because of damage it sustained when it came into contact with the Russian jet. There was no record of any radio communications between Russian and U.S. officials at the time of the incident, they added.
The MQ-9 was conducting a routine ISR intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, U.S. Air Force General James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in a statement.
The collision resulted in the complete loss of the MQ-9, Hecker said. Ryder said the wreckage of the drone has not yet been recovered.
NATO diplomats in Brussels confirmed that the incident took place but said they did not expect it to immediately escalate into a further confrontation.
The incident follows a pattern of dangerous actions by Russian pilots while interacting with U.S. and allied aircraft over international airspace, including over the Black Sea, the statement said.
U.S. forces routinely fly aircraft throughout Europe over sovereign territory and throughout international airspace in coordination with host nation and international laws, the statement said.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
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