US warns Russia to operate military aircraft with caution

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned Moscow to operate its military aircraft with caution after Washington accused one of Russia’s jets of allegedly downing an American military drone in international airspace.

Austin vowed on Wednesday that US aircraft will fly "wherever international law allows" after Russia's ambassador to the United States said the US military's actions close to Russian territory are "unacceptable."

Anatoly Antonov called on Washington to stop "hostile" flights near the country's borders.

Austin spoke by phone with Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu about Tuesday's incident over the Black Sea, where the Pentagon claimed a Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with a US military drone, causing it to crash.

Washington called the incident "reckless" and "unprofessional" while Moscow denounced US accusations and instead blamed the US for conducting "hostile" flights in the region.

"The United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows," Austin told reporters just following the call with Shoigu, AFP reported.

"And it is incumbent upon Russia to operate its military aircraft in a safe and professional manner," he said.

Shoigu reportedly told Austin that "increased intelligence activities against the interests of the Russian Federation" as well as the "non-compliance with the restricted flight zone.”

Meanwhile, US Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley said the Pentagon is still analyzing video and data from the drone to see exactly what happened.

"Was it intentional or not? -- don't know yet," he told reporters.

"We know that the intercept was intentional. We know that the aggressive behavior was intentional, we also know it was very unprofessional and very unsafe," Milley said.

"The actual contact of the fixed-wing Russian fighter with our UAV, the physical contact with those two, not sure yet."

Russia calls on US to halt 'hostile' flights after incident

Russia

The Russian defense ministry in Moscow said on Tuesday it detected an American MQ-9 drone "over the waters of the Black Sea in the area of the Crimean peninsula" flying "towards the Russian state border".

It added that the drone was flying with its "transponders turned off" and fighter jets were scrambled "to identify" it. 

"As a result of sharp maneuvering at around 0930 MSK (0630 GMT) the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle entered an uncontrolled flight with the loss of altitude and collided with the surface of the water," the ministry said.

The ministry stressed that the Russian fighters did not use their onboard weapons, made no contact with the UAV, and safely returned to their home airfield.

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