"We don't want any confrontation between the United States and Russian Federation," Antonov said, before adding that Russia does in fact consider the Black Sea incident a US provocation.
"Of course its contradiction, but does it mean that it must be to provoke Russian Navy or Russian Air Force on this issue? We have to be very cautious regarding our actions taking into what is going on in Eastern part of Europe," he told reporters.
Antonov's remarks came shortly after a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried at the State Department. The Russian ambassador has detailed that the conversation between the two officials were constructive, and that they exchanged views on the US drone crash incident.
"We have exchanged our remarks on this issue because we have some differences in the way it happened today, but it seems to me it was a constructive conversation on the issue," Antonov said. "I have heard her remarks. I hope she had understood what I mentioned."
Earlier Tuesday, Antonov was summoned to the State Department not long after reports surfaced regarding the Black Sea incident.
The Defense Ministry said the air control of the Russian Aerospace Forces recorded the flight of the drone in the region of the Crimean peninsula in the direction of the Russian border.
The flight was carried out with the aircraft’s transponder turned off, violating the boundaries of the area of the temporary regime for the use of the airspace, which was established for the purpose of conducting Russia’s special military operation and communicated to all users as well as published in accordance with international standards, the Defense Ministry said.
Russian fighter jets were scrambled to identify the intruder, the Defense Ministry added.
The US European Command (EUCOM) issued a release saying the incident involved a Russian Su-27 aircraft, which allegedly struck the drone’s propeller during an "unsafe and unprofessional intercept" over the Black Sea. EUCOM added that the incident resulted in a "complete loss" of the drone.