Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that the United States will continue to “fly and operate wherever international law allows,” one day after a Russian plane collided with a US drone over the Black Sea, forcing it to crash land in international seas.
“This dangerous occurrence is part of a pattern of aggressive, risky, and irresponsible conduct in international airspace,” Austin warned at the start of a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting. “But make no mistake, the United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows. And it is Russia’s responsibility to operate military aircraft in a safe and professional manner.”
Austin is the administration’s most senior official to publicly address the incident, which occurred on Tuesday when two Russian Su-27 aircraft intercepted an American MQ-9 Reaper drone. On Tuesday, national security advisor Jake Sullivan informed President Joe Biden about the event.
The downing of the drone was the first direct physical engagement between Russian and US military aircraft since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine. According to a Kremlin spokeswoman, ties between Moscow and Washington are at their “lowest point.” Yet, the US has yet to declare any action against Russia in response to the event, implying that the Biden administration may be attempting to avoid further escalation.
According to Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Russian aircraft flew in the vicinity of the drone for 30 to 40 minutes before one of the planes collided with the MQ-9, causing the Americans to bring the drone down into the ocean.
National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby told “AWN This Morning” on Wednesday that the drone “has not been recovered and I’m not sure we’re going to be able to recover it,” but that the US took steps “to safeguard our equities with respect to that specific drone” on Tuesday.
Moscow has contradicted the American version of events, with Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov saying on Tuesday that Russia has “informed about this space that was classified as a zone for special military operations.” Antonov also claimed that the MQ-9 “flew with its transponders turned off, breaking the bounds of the temporary airspace,” and that no Russian aircraft collided with it.
On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to focus on the ministry of defense’s statement, “which clearly emphasises that no weapons were used, and there was no physical contact.”
According to Peskov, US-Russia ties are in a “deplorable state” and at their “lowest point,” and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the incident.
Russia has also stated that it will endeavour to recover the drone’s wreckage.
“I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get it or not, but we have to do it… And we will certainly investigate,” Russian Security Council Secretary and former FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev stated on Russian state television channel Rossiya 1.
The episode, according to Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, is a “signal” of Putin’s “readiness to expand the battle zone with the involvement of other parties.”
“The incident with the American MQ-9 Reaper UAV in the Black Sea, instigated by [R]ussia, is [P]utin’s signal of preparedness to expand the conflict zone with the participation of other parties,” he stated. “The all-in strategy is the continuing rising of rates in the face of a strategic loss in the hope that circumstances will change.”
