Relations between the USA and Russia are deteriorating daily.
The latest incident involved armed Russian SU-27 fighter jets intercepting two American spy planes flying over the Baltic Sea near Russia.
Both sides issued different versions of what happened.
The US said a Russian jet armed with air-to-air missiles under its wings rapidly approached the US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft and came within five feet of the American plane. An American official told Fox News that once the Russian aircraft was flying alongside the American plane, the Russian jet’s flight maneuvers were provocative, and the plane flew erratically.
The Russian defense ministry said its Su-27 fighter jets consecutively intercepted two US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft, with one of them making a provocative turn towards the Russian plane. The US did not mention a second aircraft. The Russian defense ministry said a fighter jet from its Baltic fleet air defense alert unit was scrambled when the American spy plane was spotted flying toward the Russian border. According to the Russians, the American plane made a provocative turn toward the Russian jet as it was being escorted away from Russia’s border. According to Moscow, a second US spy plane fly near Russia’s border 10 minutes after the first plane was intercepted by the Russians. Russia also claims that US and NATO spy planes have performed more than 15 flights over the Baltic Sea near the Russian border.
The incident comes one day after Russia said it would shoot down any US jets flying west of the Euphrates River in Syria. Moscow issued the warning following a US Navy jet’s shoot-down of a Syrian military jet that was bombing Islamic terrorists supported by the CIA.
Moscow’s warning to Washington was enough to prompt Australia to suspend its bombing missions in Syria. Australian officials fear the US is moving toward an all-out war with Russia.
The US also shot down a drone over Syria that was observing US and British special forces training jihadists allegedly to fight ISIS. The USA, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, however, are the not-so-secret backers of the Islamic State in the quest to topple Syrian President Assad.
A member of Syria’s parliament said today that the Syrian military will retaliate against the United States by conducting massive bombing strikes against Islamic jihadists armed by the CIA.
Syrian MP Ammar al-Asad told Sputnik News that Syria will also strengthen its border to block the logistic routes used to moved supplies from Jordan to ISIS.
Russian military expert Konstan-tin Siv-kov told Sputnik that America’s shooting down of the Syrian jet is a very serious matter, and that the war in Syria is shifting to a dangerous stage. He said this phase is where the USA is launching direct military actions against the Syrian government. According to Mr. Siv-kov, "Russia would have to either give up its support for Syria or join the war against the United States."
If this isn’t enough drama, throw in a joint military exercise with Iranian and Chinese sailors. The two countries began a joint naval exercise in the Persian Gulf on Sunday. An Iranian destroyer and two Chinese destroyers are among the naval vessels participating in the drill in the eastern portion of the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman.
Meanwhile, two US B-1B long range strategic nuclear bombers are conducting flights over the Korean Peninsula as part of a joint exercise with South Korea.
