The Pentagon is downplaying a Tuesday incident in which a Russian jet intercepted two U.S. bombers over the Baltic Sea, calling it “nothing significant.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced earlier Tuesday it detected two air targets approaching the country’s border and sent up a Su-27 fighter to investigate.
“The crew of the Russian fighter classified the air targets as two US Air Force B-1B strategic bombers and occupied the established air watch zone,” the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation said in a statement on Telegram.
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder later confirmed the incident to reporters.
“My understanding is that it was a safe and professional interaction with Russian aircraft. So nothing significant to report on that front,” Ryder said.
Asked where the incident took place and what specific aircraft were involved, he referred questions to U.S. European Command.
“As the Pentagon Press Secretary, Brig Gen Patrick Ryder, said during his news briefing today, two U.S. B-1 bomber aircraft operating in Europe as part of a scheduled bomber rotation were interacted with safely and professionally by Russian aircraft. At this time, we have no additional details to add,” U.S. European Command said in an emailed statement.
This isn’t the first interaction between U.S. and Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea, but Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine has kept tensions high between the two countries and stoked fears that such incidents could lead to a wider escalation.
Those tensions reached a fever pitch in March when Russian jets damaged a U.S. MQ-9 in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, causing the drone to crash into the water.
The Biden administration and lawmakers admonished Moscow for what they called an unprofessional and unsafe maneuver, but no further conflict came of it.
There have also been several intercepts between U.S. and Russian aircraft near Alaskan airspace so far this year.