Shoigu and Pentagon chief Austin discussed the incident with the American UAV over the Black Sea
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin discussed the incident with a drone over the Black Sea during a telephone conversation, reports RIA News.
The conversation took place at the initiative of the American side, emphasized the Ministry of Defense. After a conversation with Shoigu, Austin said that the great powers should set an example of transparency and openness to communications.
However, the head of the Pentagon refused to disclose the content of the conversation with his Russian counterpart. He also assured that the United States is serious about the risk of escalation around Ukraine.
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What happened?
On March 14, it became known about the collision of an American UAV and a Russian Su-27 fighter over the Black Sea. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that a US-made MQ-9 drone had fallen in the Black Sea.
Later, CNN journalist Natasha Bertrand reported that the US Air Force operators of the MQ-9 UAV erased the software of the drone before its accident in the Black Sea in order to prevent it from being captured by the Russian military.
US remotely wiped sensitive software on MQ-9 Reaper drone before it crashed into the Black Sea to prevent Russia from collecting classified information
According to the head of the press service of the US State Department, Ned Price, Russia’s actions in the case of the UAV that crashed into the Black Sea were most likely not deliberate.
Escalation danger
It is noted that Shoigu, during a telephone conversation with Austin, said that the flights of American Global Hawk UAVs off the coast of Crimea create a danger of escalation. Words leads Telegramchannel of the Russian Defense Ministry.
During the conversation, it was noted that the flights of American strategic unmanned aerial vehicles off the coast of Crimea are of a provocative nature, which creates prerequisites for an escalation of the situation in the Black Sea zone
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Kremlin response
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the situation with the American MQ-9 Reaper, said that the American side should not fly where it is not supposed to.
Maybe it was not necessary to fly there, who is not supposed to? Then it would be environmentally friendly
Thus, the Kremlin spokesman responded to accusations that the fall of a drone and the alleged dumping of fuel from a Russian fighter, which Washington claims are not environmentally friendly.
Negotiations between the Chiefs of the General Staffs of Russia and the USA
On March 15, the Russian Defense Ministry also reported that Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, held telephone conversations with Mark Milli, Chairman of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces. The department noted that the conversation took place in the development of the negotiations between Shoigu and Austin.
Prior to this, Milli said that he intends to talk with Gerasimov after the incident with an American drone in the airspace over the Black Sea.
“I plan to speak with my colleague General Gerasimov,” Milley said on Wednesday, March 15, during a press conference. He added that the conversation had already been scheduled.
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