US military conveys 'displeasure' to Russia over fighter incidents
Iran Press TV
Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:40PM
The United States military says it has conveyed its "displeasure" to the Russian military over recent incidents involving Russian fighter jets intercepting an American spyplane and flying very close to a US warship in international waters of the Baltic Sea.
Two Russian planes whooshed past the USS Donald Cook last week almost a dozen times, said American officials, including a Russian Su-24 jet that flew 30 feet (nine meters) above the US guided missile destroyer in what the Pentagon described as a "simulated attack profile."
One US military official called the events on April 11 and April 12 "one of the most aggressive acts in recent memory".
Also last week, a Russian aircraft flew close to a US Air Force reconnaissance plane and performed a barrel roll during the maneuver, according to the Pentagon.
"I can tell you we have open (military-to-military) channels and our displeasure with their conduct has been relayed to them," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said on Thursday.
"We are not at war with Russia, we have no reason to think that they are going to be attacking our ships. But that said, (the) commanding officer, with his inherent right of self-defense, has to make a split-second decision. We don't want him to miscalculate based upon their inappropriate behavior," Davis added.
Moscow has called its actions appropriate given how close US forces were operating to Kaliningrad, a Russian territory in northern Europe, adding that it observed all required safety measures.
"Could anyone possibly suppose that a destroyer fitted out with 2,500-kilometer-range (1,500 miles) cruise missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads, might be cruising in the waters off New York?" Russian Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko said on Wednesday.
"This wasn't military activity proper but rather an attempt to exert pressure on Russia," he stated.
US Secretary of State John Kerry last week condemned the "simulated attack" on the USS Donald Cook, saying the US military would have been within its rights to shoot down the Russian aircraft.
"We condemn this kind of behavior," Kerry said. "It is reckless. It is provocative. It is dangerous. And under the rules of engagement, that could have been a shoot-down."
Commenting on the strong US reaction to the Baltic Sea incident, American analyst Daniel Patrick Welch said the US government is an aspiring empire and "super predator" determined to control the world and destroy nations.
"The United States is constantly coming out with these arrogant statements, calling Russian moves provocative for buzzing a US ship [near Russian borders]," Welch told Press TV on April 15.
"The clear implication is that the US can do whatever it wants, wherever it wants and if anyone moves to push back or take a stance in defending their countries and their people, then they are in the wrong and they are the ones that are provocative," he noted.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
