Russian Jet Tracked By NATO Over Baltic Sea Performed 'Unsafe' Maneuver - Alliance

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2019) NATO spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu, said on Wednesday that one of the two Russian Su-27 fighter jets that were accompanying Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's Tu-214 airplane performed an "unsafe" maneuver when it was approached by the alliance's aircraft for inspection.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that a NATO F-18 combat jet approached Shoigu's aircraft over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea and was forced away by two Russian Su-27 fighters.

"One of the Russian Su-27 fighters ... turned left to almost cut into the flight path of one of the [NATO] F-18s in an unsafe manner," Lungescu told reporters.

The NATO spokeswoman added that the Russian aircraft did not communicate with air traffic control and did not have a flight plan.

"The Tu-214 airplane had a valid flight plan, did identify itself and responded to air traffic control. The two escorting Su-27 flew without a flight plan, their transponders were switched off and they did not talk to air traffic control," the spokeswoman told journalists.�

Following the incident, Russian media reported that the Su-27 jets pushed NATO's aircraft away only after one of the alliance's jets tried to approach Shoigu's plane. NATO, on the other hand, says it approached the Russian planes only to inspect them.

NATO suspended its cooperation with Moscow in 2014, following the reunification of Crimea with Russia, which the alliance did not support.