With tensions rising in the Baltic Sea following an incident involving two Russian fighters and the USS Donald Cook, US officials claim that an Su-27 has performed another “unsafe” flyby of an American surveillance aircraft in the region.
Two US defense officials claim that a Russian jet performed a "barrel roll" within 100 ft. of a US Air Force RC-135 spy plane, according to the Telegraph.
A statement from the Pentagon later claimed that the incident actually occurred within 25 ft. of the US plane.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov denied similar allegations from a separate incident earlier this month.
"The reports of foreign media saying that a Russian Su-27 allegedly flew in dangerously close proximity to a US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in the skies over the Baltic Sea on April 14 are not true," he told reporters.
"To identify the target, one of the Su-27s of the Baltic Fleet aviation forces on duty was sent."
Washington also accused Moscow of "unsafe" maneuvers near the USS Donald Cook destroyer as it sailed through the Baltic earlier this month.
"We condemn this kind of behavior. It is reckless. It is provocative. It is dangerous. And under the rules of engagement that could have been a shoot-down," US Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview with the Miami Herald.
While the US has filed formal protests against these actions, many have pointed out that the Pentagon could avoid these situations by not encroaching on foreign borders.
"We send naval warships, equipped with the latest equipment, 50 miles from Russian territory in the Baltic Sea, conducting military exercises. The Russians are annoyed and irritated, and we say 'Oh my goodness, how aggressive, how dare you,'" Daniel McAdams, director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity told Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear.
The US has had similar responses to instances in the South China Sea and the Korean peninsula.
"There’s no sense that there’s a reaction to our actions, that we’re responsible for our actions."
