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As tensions between Moscow and Washington continue to rise because the U.S. insists on increasing allied military presence near the Russian border, Russia's Defense Ministry said Saturday it had sent a fighter plane on Friday to intercept a U.S. aircraft approaching its border over the Baltic Sea because the American plane had turned off its transponder, which is needed for identification.
The Pentagon said the U.S. Air Force RC-135 plane had been flying a routine route in international airspace and that the Russian SU-27 fighter had intercepted it in an "unsafe and unprofessional" way.
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CNN reported that the Russian jet had come within about 100 feet (30 meters) of the U.S. plane and had performed a barrel roll.
"All flights of Russian planes are conducted in accordance with international regulations on the use of airspace," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"The U.S. Air Force has two solutions: either not to fly near our borders or to turn the transponder on for identification," they added.
Friday's incident underlines rising tensions between Russia and the United States over eastern Europe. NATO has said it plans its biggest build-up in the region since the Cold War to counter what the it considers to be a more aggressive Russia.
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In fact, according to U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work, NATO is deploying four 4,000-troop battalions in Poland and three Baltic states near the Russian border.
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The Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which joined NATO in 2004, have requested higher and permanent presence of the alliance, alleging Russia is a threat to them while insisting Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014, when in the reality is that Crimeans overwhelmingly voted in favor of reunification to Russia through a referendum.
The U.S. and their allies also constantly insist that Russia is an imminent threat despite that the Kremlin has continuously denied any intentions to attack Baltic countries.
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"We are already starting to get used to the insults of the Pentagon regarding alleged 'unprofessional' maneuvers when our fighters intercept U.S. spy planes at the Russian border," the defense ministry said in its statement.
U.S.-led NATO also exposes their hypocrisy and double standards by justifying their increasing military presence near the Russian border saying, “The Russians have been doing a lot of snap exercises right up against the borders, with a lot of troops,” calling these actions an “extraordinarily provocative behavior,” when based on facts, the United States and their allies carry out massive military drills near Russia more frequently than Russian forces.
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