A Russian ambassador to NATO said that Russia would deploy “all necessary measures” against American aggression, citing the sailing of a US destroyer in the Baltic Sea as an act of intimidation.
On April 11, Russian aircrafts had made a close encounter with an American Navy destroyer in international waters, with both sides accusing the other of aggression.
“This is about attempts to exercise military pressure on Russia,” the envoy, Alexander Grushko, said, according to Reuters. “We will take all necessary measures, precautions, to compensate for these attempts to use military force,” he told reporters.
The US said that the Navy destroyer was just making a routine trip to Poland, and that the flight of the Russian jets near the ship constituted “harassment.”
“We were in international waters,” said US ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute.
After the incident, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the US destroyer had the right to shoot the jets down under “rules of engagement,” according to AP.
The pair of Su-24 jets, which were apparently unarmed, came to within 30 feet of the Navy destroyer.
