Russia on Wednesday urged the United States to cease its “hostile” actions, a day after an incident between a large American drone and a Russian warplane on the Black Sea, near Ukraine and Russiawhich aggravated tensions between Washington and Moscow.
Ukraine, for its part, said the incident, which ended with the crash of the US drone into the sea, is a sign that the Kremlin is willing to “expand” the conflict to other parties. started in February 2022 with the Russian invasion of its territory.
The United States accused Russian aviation last Tuesday of having “intercepted and crashed” one of its drones over the Black Sea and causing its downfall.
Moscow denied those accusations.although he acknowledged that two of his fighters intercepted a US drone “in the area of the Crimean peninsula”, on the Black Sea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014 without international recognition.
“We consider any action that includes the use of American weapons as openly hostile”
What did they say from Russia?
According to Moscow, the drone was moving “in the direction” of the Russian border.
“Russian fighters did not use their weapons”and they did not even come into contact with the drone, which had violated the no-fly zone “established to carry out the special military operation,” said the Russian Army, referring to the invasion of Ukraine.
This Wednesday, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoli Antonov, said he hoped the United States would “refrain from further speculation in the media space.” and stop their flights near the Russian borders.
“We regard any action that includes the use of US weapons as openly hostile,” said the ambassador in a statement released by Telegramafter calling the US action a “provocation”.
He added that “Russia does not seek confrontation and continues to bet on pragmatic cooperation in the interest of the peoples of our countries,” the AFP news agency reported.
In addition, Russian government spokesman Dmitri Peskov assured on Wednesday morning that Russia is willing to engage in constructive dialogue with the United States.
“Of course, each of the countries will defend their interests in the dialogue. However, Russia has never rejected constructive dialogue and does not reject it now,” Peskov said when asked about the consequences of the finding.
The spokesman acknowledged that relations between Moscow and Washingtonwhich is Ukraine’s main supplier of weapons to fight Russia, “are at their lowest point, in a very deplorable state,” the Sputnik news agency reported.
The US version
According to Washington, the MQ-9 drone was intercepted by two Russian Su-27 fighters that flew around it for 30 to 40 minutes.
Suddenly, one of the Russian fighters “struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing US forces to shoot it down in international waters”the Pentagon added.
The drone has not been recovered, officials said, but did not say whether efforts were being made to find it.
Russia, for its part, rejected the version given by Washington.
“As a result of a sharp maneuver (near the Russian fighters), an MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle made an uncontrolled flight, losing altitude, and collided with the surface of the water,” the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
The United States uses MQ-9 Reapers for both surveillance and strikes and has operated the drones in a variety of locations, including in the Middle East and Africa. Other countries, including the UK and France, also use them.
Ukraine said the incident reflected Russia’s intention to escalate the conflict.
“The incident with the US MQ-9 Reaper drone provoked by Russia in the Black Sea is a sign from (Vladimir) Putin that he is willing to expand the conflict zone and involve other parties,” the secretary of the Council said on Twitter. Ukrainian Security Officer Oleksii Danilov.
