Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held telephone conversations with US Secretary of Defense, head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin, during which they discussed the consequences of the crash of an American UAV over the Black Sea, the ministry said.
The main focus during the talks was on the exchange of views on the causes and consequences of the drone incident.
Shoigu said that the cause of the incident was the actions of the American side, which did not comply with the restricted flight zone declared by Russia against the backdrop of a special operation.
The Russian Defense Minister noted that the flights of US drones off the coast of Crimea are provocative, which creates the preconditions for an escalation of the situation.
During the conversation, it was noted that the major nuclear powers should maintain military channels of communication to discuss crisis situations.
Russia will continue to respond proportionately to all provocations, like the flight of US drones near the borders of the Russian Federation,” he said.
noted Shoigu.
The day before, the US European Command reported that a Russian Su-27 collided with an American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the Black Sea, causing the drone to crash into international waters.
The White House said that the United States will continue flying over the Black Sea, despite the air incident with the UAV.
The Russian Defense Ministry, in turn, reported that Russian fighters did not use airborne weapons and did not come into contact with a US drone over the Black Sea.
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said that Russia would try to retrieve the wreckage of an American drone that had fallen into the Black Sea.
On Wednesday, March 15, at a press conference in Addis Ababa, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the United States was investigating the circumstances of the interception of an American MQ-9 multipurpose reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle by a Russian fighter over the Black Sea.
