By Aaron Miller-
Tensions between Russia and America have heightened after an armed Russian fighter jet flew within 5ft of a US plane in what was described as a “provocative” manoeuvre over the Baltic Sea,
The fighter jet is reported to have approached an American RC-135 reconnaissance plane rapidly and flew eratically, officials have stated. The Russian defense ministry said a U.S reconnaisance RC-135 plane swerved dangerously in the proximity of a Russian SU 27 fighter jet over the Baltic Sea, creating a potential confrontation.
Armed with air to air missiles, officials told Fox News that the fighter approached the wingtip of the larger aircraft before passing underneath it and reappearing by the opposite wing. The very dangerous near confrontation could have potentially led to an unpredictable scenario that may have spiraled out of control,potentially into a war. The shocking report comes 24 hours after the U.S shot down a Syrian government jet , intensifying the already unsteady relations between the U.S and Russia.
Russia responded to the act by saying it would treat any U.S plane flying West of the Euphrates river as a potential target, .Russisa’s foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said it ”would see the strike as a continuation of American norms to disregard the norms of international law”.
The foreign ministry also said it would respond to the incident by suspending its normal ””key deconfliction” channels of communications designed to prevent collisions and dangerous incidences in the Syrian air space. Those comments from the Russian Ministry are provocative, also raising as a question why the confusion and opposing perspectives on the U.S strike is occurring.
Today’s developments raises questions of blameworthiness at a time when both U.S and Russian forces are expected to be clear and in good correspondence about the activities in the Syrian air space.
The incident occurred as an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft flew above the Baltic Sea, but was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet, which approached at a high speed.
The pilot of the American aircraft concluded he Russian aircraft’s actions to be “unsafe”