Relations between Russia and the United States were strained on Wednesday, the day after the fall of an American drone in the Black Sea.
Russia said on Wednesday March 15 that it wanted to fish out the American drone it is accused of having caused to crash in the Black Sea and which, according to it, proves the involvement of the United States in the conflict in Ukraine, Washington announcing for its part investigate Moscow’s motives in this incident. Meanwhile, fighting is still fierce in Bakhmout, eastern Ukraine.
Franceinfo returns to the highlights of the day on the front of the war in Ukraine.
Russia accuses US of ‘hostile’ flights in wake of Black Sea incident
In the aftermath of the fall of an American Reaper MQ-9 drone in international waters of the Black Sea after being hit, according to the United States, by a Russian fighter, tensions did not really fall between Washington and Moscow. The Russian government admits the interception of the aircraft by its fighter jets but denies any contact that would have led to the crash. Russia argues that the drone had entered, off the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014, a no-fly zone that it itself decreed for its operation in Ukraine.
>> What we know about the crash of an American drone over the Black Sea, which causes a diplomatic incident between the United States and Russia
On Wednesday, Russia held the United States responsible for the incident and the tensions it arouses, calling on Washington to stop the flights “hostile” of drones. “Any incident causing tension between the two major nuclear powers is fraught with very significant risks to global security”Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian television. “The causes of the incident are the non-observance by the United States of the restricted flight zone announced by Russia and established as a result of the conduct of the special military operation (in Ukraine), as well as the reinforcement intelligence activities against Russian interests”said Sergei Shoigu, quoted in a press release from the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, summoned by the American State Department, had already indicated that Moscow considered the presence of American drones in the area as a threat, urging American forces to cease “their flights near the Russian borders” after being summoned by the US State Department.
Washington will continue to fly ‘where international law permits’
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reacted to Russian statements by stressing on Wednesday that the United States would continue to fly “where permitted by international law”. “Russia has a responsibility to fly its military aircraft professionally and safely”Lloyd Austin added during a press conference, after a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.
“I can’t speak at this stage of a motive or an intention (on the part of the Russians), but what I can say very clearly is that it was a rash action and dangerous”said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visiting Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
France denounces “actions of intimidation”
France, whose forces are notably present in Romania within the framework of NATO, defended the American position. “Freedom of navigation in international airspace must be respected and acts of intimidation are not acceptable”said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna. “We call on Russia to comply with international law on this subject, as on all of those from which it has deviated.”
kyiv accuses Moscow of wanting to “involve other parties” in this conflict
For its part, Kiev indeed accused Russian forces of deliberately bringing down the Reaper to send a message to Washington, as they struggle in their attempts to gain ground in Ukraine. In this context and as deliveries of Western heavy tanks to the Ukrainians have begun, the neutralization of the Reaper drone is “a signal from Putin that he is ready to expand the conflict zone and involve other parties in it”Ukrainian Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said on Twitter.
Russian attacks ‘repelled’ near Bakhmout
In the east of the country, Russian forces are notably still storming the small town of Bakhmout, which the Ukrainians have been defending fiercely for months, the Ukrainian army said in its daily report. “Our defenders repelled enemy attacks near the villages of Orikhovo-Vasylivka and Bogdanivka”, she added. More to the south, “due to their powerlessness, the occupiers are terrorizing civilians” in the Kherson region, according to the same source.