American planes, which would have approached the Russian border in the Baltic Sea, withdrew, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
Russia said on Tuesday that it took off one of its warplanes to meet two American bombers over the Baltic Sea, which it said were approaching its border.
“After the withdrawal of foreign warplanes from the Russian border, the Russian fighter returned to its original airfield” without incident, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
According to the ministry, the two aircraft in question were US Air Force B-1B strategic bombers which “approached the Russian border”, specifying that they had launched an Su-27 fighter to meet them. The Russian border was not violated, he said.
“The flight of the Russian combat aircraft took place in strict compliance with international airspace rules,” the Russian ministry said.
A “long-planned exercise in Europe”
The interception was confirmed by Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder, who said the bombers were taking part in a “long-planned exercise in Europe.”
Incidents involving Russian planes and aircraft from NATO countries have multiplied in recent years, even before the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
Last week, a similar incident over the Baltic Sea involved a Russian fighter and two French and German military planes.
At the beginning of May, it was a Polish border guard plane operating in the Black Sea on behalf of the European external borders agency Frontex which, according to Warsaw, was endangered by the approaches of a Russian fighter.
A month earlier, Russian fighters had gone to meet an American Reaper MQ-9 drone in the Black Sea, which after their maneuvers had crashed into the sea. The incident had caused an access of tension between Washington and Moscow .