Russian planes will harass US Navy in nearby seas
The latest encounter was intimidation bordering on the reckless
A White House spokesman said yesterday that Russian jets flying repeated passes near a US destroyer in the Baltic Sea on April 11-12 violated rules covering military forces in international waters and airspace. The Russian defence ministry said the Su-24 attack aircraft acted safely, despite US Navy video footage showing one jet coming within ten metres of the USS Donald Cook, on exercise with Polish forces. The warplane probably came from Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave bordering Poland. This is by far the closest encounter in a series of incidents in the last two years. In May 2015, Russian jets came within 500 metres of a US destroyer in the Black Sea, and in June they flew passes over US and other NATO vessels on exercise in the Baltic Sea.
Our judgement
The Russian military will continue to probe Baltic and Scandinavian defences and attempt to push out the US naval presence in the Black Sea and Baltic regions. Moscow will calibrate its provocative shows of strength but the latest incident highlights the dangers of miscalculation amid tensions over Syria and Ukraine.
See BALTIC STATES: NATO role may curb Russia's ambitions - March 29, 2016.