Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoli Antonov on Wednesday called on Washington to end hostile flights near the Russian border, in response to Russian aviation’s interception of a US drone in the Black Sea on Tuesday.
“We assume that the United States will refrain from media speculation and end flights near the Russian border,” he said. wrote Antonov in a text distributed on social networks.
“We consider all actions involving the use of US weapons as ‘clearly hostile,'” he stressed.
In the same message, Antonov refers that “Russia does not seek confrontation and expects pragmatic cooperation within the framework of the interests of the peoples of both countries”.
Anatoly Antonov: We think it is important that the lines of communication remain open.
❗️Russia does not seek confrontation and stands for pragmatic cooperation in the interest of the people of our countries.
https://t.co/Q0BA6k3r3Q pic.twitter.com/CsVUUYbH1O
— Russian Embassy in the US (@RusEmbUSA) March 15, 2023
On Tuesday, the United States accused Russian aviation of “intercepting and shooting down” an unmanned aerial device (drone) in the Black Sea.
Russia acknowledged that two fighter jets had intercepted a US drone detected “in the area of the Crimean peninsula” and that it was moving “towards” the Russian borders.
According to the Moscow military, the Russian fighters “did not use weapons” and did not come into contact with the drone flying with “the transponders (electronic telecommunication equipment) turned off” and flying over “the airspace set for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine”.
Source: DN
