American planes that had approached the Russian border in the Baltic Sea had been withdrawn, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
Russia said on Tuesday it had taken off one of its fighter jets to attack two American bombers approaching its border over the Baltic Sea.
“After the withdrawal of foreign fighter jets from the Russian border, the Russian fighter returned to its original airfield without incident,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
According to the ministry, the two planes were US Air Force B-1B strategic bombers that were “approaching the Russian border” and said they had launched a Su-27 fighter to intercept them meet. The Russian border was not violated, he said.
“The flight of the Russian fighter jet was carried out in strict compliance with international airspace rules,” the Russian ministry said.
A “long-planned exercise in Europe”
The interception was confirmed by Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder, who said the bombers participated in a “long-planned exercise in Europe.”
Incidents involving Russian planes and planes from NATO countries have multiplied in recent years, even before the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
A similar incident occurred last week over the Baltic Sea involving a Russian fighter plane and two French and German military planes.
At the beginning of May, it was a Polish border guard aircraft that was operating in the Black Sea on behalf of the European external border agency Frontex and, according to Warsaw, was endangered by the approach of a Russian fighter plane.
A month earlier, Russian warplanes in the Black Sea crashed into an American Reaper MQ-9 drone, which crashed into the sea after its manoeuvres. The incident had sparked tensions between Washington and Moscow.