Russia threatened the West on Friday with a “direct confrontation” over the “intensification” of US drone flights over the Black Sea off Ukraine.
Moscow considers that the assistance provided to Kiev in the field of weapons, gathering intelligence information, and identifying targets on Russian territory makes Western countries parties to the Ukrainian crisis that began in February 2022.
American drone flights over the Black Sea “increase the likelihood of accidents occurring in the airspace with aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which in turn raises the risk of direct confrontation between NATO and the Russian Federation,” according to a statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The statement warned that “NATO countries will be responsible” for this situation, noting that Defense Minister Andrei Belousov ordered the General Staff “to take measures to quickly respond to these provocations.”
According to the Russian Ministry, the purpose of the American drones is to “reconnaissance and identify targets for precision weapons provided to the Ukrainian armed forces” from the West.
After rejecting the matter for a long time for fear of escalation, the Americans and Europeans began in recent weeks to allow strikes with precision weapons to be carried out on Russian territory, according to specific conditions.
In early June, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to deliver weapons to enemies of the West to undermine its interests elsewhere in the world.
#Russia #threatens #West #direct #confrontation