The fallout from an encounter between a U.S. drone and Russian fighter jets on Tuesday continues to be monitored closely just as another incident between NATO countries and Russia was recorded, with British and German fighter jets scrambled to escort a Russian aircraft away from Estonian airspace.
In comments released in the early hours of Wednesday, Russia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov appeared to blame the U.S. for the downing of the U.S. drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday that the U.S. military blamed on “reckless,” “unprofessional” and “unsafe” behavior by the Russian fighter jets.
Antonov said in comments posted on the Russian embassy’s Telegram account that he had told U.S. officials, after being summoned by the U.S. State Department, that Russia’s position on the incident was that the U.S. drone had been “moving deliberately and provocatively towards the Russian territory with its transponders turned off.”
He then claimed that it had “violated the boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation,” the name Russia gives its invasion of Ukraine, and denied that the Russian jets had collided with the drone.
In the latest incident highlighting tensions between NATO and Russia, British and German fighter jets were also scrambled later Tuesday to intercept a Russian aircraft flying close to Estonian airspace.
The U.K. Supreme Court ruled that Ukraine can go to trial to avoid repaying $3 billion in loans it said it took under pressure from Russia in 2013 to prevent it from trying to join the European Union.
The court rejected a bid by a British company acting on Russia’s behalf to order Ukraine to repay the loans without facing a trial. Ukraine said it borrowed the money while facing the threat of military force and massive illegal economic and political pressure nearly a decade before Russia invaded its neighbor.
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