The US Sixth Fleet, which is part of the United States’ naval forces in Europe, said on Tuesday that a Russian fighter jet intercepted a US Navy surveillance aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea in an “irresponsible” manner. The incident occurred in international airspace and “put [US] pilots and crew at risk.” The jet had made a total of three intercepts, two of which were safe according to the Sixth Fleet.
Russia denied that it’s pilot had acted irresponsibly during the interception, which was carried out because the US aircraft was approaching Russia’s Tartus naval facility on the Syrian coast.
Read more: US and Russia spar over ‘unsafe’ spy plane intercept near Syria
