U.S. Summons Russian Ambassador Over Downing Of Drone

Washington D.C./15.03.23/Turan:   In the first known physical contact between Russian and U.S, militaries since the war in Ukraine began last February, a Russian fighter jet reportedly collided with a U.S. drone flying in international airspace making a routine flight, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The State Department Tuesday afternoon summoned the Russian ambassador in Washington to express its objection over the drone’s downing, while spokesperson Ned Price called an “unsafe, unprofessional intercept” and a “brazen violation of international law.”

In a phone briefing, Price told reporters that the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, Lynne M. Tracy, had also “conveyed a strong message to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

The MQ-9 Reaper drone was flying over the Black Sea in international waters on Tuesday morning when it was flanked by two Russian jets, the White House said.

Moscow denied that its warplanes were to blame and offered an alternative account of the confrontation. However, according to the Pentagon, prior to the collision, two Su-27 warplanes dumped jet fuel on the drone and flew in front of it in a “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner.”

Washington has already briefed allies about the incident. Asked by TURAN's correspondent whether the incident was a clear Russian aggravation against the U.S. and allied nations of Ukraine, Ned Price said the following:

"We are in a position to speak to what happened, and what happened was an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver on the part of a Russian aircraft, a maneuver that was also tinged with a lack of competence that caused the U.S. military to need to bring this unmanned craft down.  That is the result, again, of these Russian actions."

He went on to conclude, "We can characterize them, but we can’t characterize the motivations.  In a sense, however, the motivations matter much less than what actually transpired, and that’s what we’re speaking to today"

Alex Raufoglu