If you were wondering what the immediate U.S. response would be to the embarrassing incident that took place in the Baltic Sea last week between Russian fighter jets and a U.S. destroyer, the answer is absolutely nothing.
In case you missed it, the USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) was conducting flight operations with a Polish helicopter when the two Russian jets approached at aggressive speeds and buzzed the Navy destroyer as the helicopter was taking off from the destroyer’s flight deck. Not once, not twice, but several times.
For the first time in almost two years, Moscow's ambassador spoke to NATO representatives and said that the April 11 incident that prompted Russian fighter jets to fly within 30 feet of a U.S. destroyer showed there could be no improvement in ties until the U.S.-led alliance withdrew from Russia's borders.
Speaking after a meeting, a special envoy representing Russia said, "This is about attempts to exercise military pressure on Russia. We will take all necessary measures, precautions, to compensate for these attempts to use military force."
According to a report, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute pressed Russia about the incident, warning it had been dangerous.
"We were in international waters," a NATO diplomat reported Lute as telling Grushko during the NATO-Russia council meeting.
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