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NATO fighter jet nears Russian defence minister’s plane

June 21, 2017 at 5:06 pm

A NATO F-16 fighter jet tried to approach the plane of the Russian Defence Minister, Sergey Shoygu, over neutral waters in the Baltic Sea, Russian news agency Interfax reported.

Interfax quoted one of the journalists accompanying the Russian minister on board the plane as saying that the fighter jet, which was loaded with ammunition, approached the minister’s plane and flew alongside it until it was intercepted by a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet and forced to leave.

Russian news agency Sputnik reported that when the NATO fighter jet tried to get close to the defence minister’s plane, a Russian fighter jet flew between them and exposed its weapon to the NATO fighter jet, turning its wings sideways to force the NATO aircraft to withdraw.

The incident comes a day after a Russian fighter jet intercepted an American surveillance plane over the Baltic Sea.

Speaking at a press conference, Pentagon spokesman, Captain Jeff Davis, said: “Russia’s interception of the American surveillance plane over the Baltic took place on Monday June 19 and the US military considered the maneuver dangerous and unprofessional.”