US Vows Continued Black Sea Surveillance Missions Near Ukraine

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Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin vowed Wednesday to continue to fly reconnaissance missions over the Black Sea near Ukraine, even after Tuesday’s incident in which the United States says a Russian fighter jet collided with a U.S. drone, forcing the U.S. drone operator to send it plummeting into the water. 

“The United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows,” Austin told defense leaders from allied countries supporting Ukraine against Russia’s 13-month invasion. 

“It is incumbent upon Russia to operate its aircraft in a safe and professional manner,” Austin told his counterparts in a virtual meeting originating from the Pentagon. He said the downed U.S. MQ-9 drone was “conducting routine operations” in international airspace Tuesday, when a pair of Russian jets “engaged in dangerous, reckless, and unprofessional practices.” 

“This hazardous episode is part of a pattern of aggressive, risky, and unsafe actions by Russian pilots in international airspace,” he said. Russia said it is considering whether to try to retrieve the drone, but U.S. officials said its operatives were able to remotely erase sensitive software on the drone to prevent Russia from collecting secret information before sending the aircraft into the Black Sea. 

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told CNN on Wednesday that the drone “has not been recovered, and I’m not sure we’re going to be able to recover it.” The U.S. does not have ships in the Black Sea, which is largely controlled by Russia.

Meanwhile, the U.S. defense chief called on allied countries to ramp up their support for Kyiv’s forces.

“We are now in a crucial time in the course of Ukraine’s fight for freedom,” Austin said. “We must provide Ukraine with the full capabilities for the fight ahead,” including spare parts for armaments, additional equipment, and new donations of ammunition and air defense systems.

At the White House, national security spokesman John Kirby told VOA Tuesday, “If the message [from Russia] is that they want to deter or dissuade us from flying and operating in international airspace over the Black Sea, then that message will fail because that is not going to happen.”

Russia denied that its Su-27 jets came into contact with the U.S. drone and pinned blame for the crash on the operation of the drone. A U.S. military official told VOA the unmanned U.S. MQ-9 has not yet been recovered. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the United States summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the incident.

“We are engaging directly with the Russians, again at senior levels, to convey our strong objections to this unsafe, unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned U.S. aircraft,” Price said.

Austin met with defense officials from nearly 50 countries to assess the war in Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Tuesday, “As we’ve been doing since the beginning of this campaign, we’re continuing to do everything that we can to ensure that we’re meeting Ukraine’s needs, whether it’s ammunition, whether it’s air defense, armor.”

U.S., European Union and NATO officials have all pledged to boost efforts to both replenish Ukraine’s ammunition stockpiles as well as their own as the fighting in Ukraine grinds on more than a year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

“We are constantly considering the supply of ammunition and weapons,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of meetings with his military leaders.

Zelenskyy said the main focus was on efforts to defend the eastern front line, including the Bakhmut area that has seen months of fierce fighting. He said the clear position of Ukrainian military leaders is to “reinforce this direction, to inflict maximum possible damage upon the occupier.”

Separate from the U.S.-led talks Wednesday, Zelenskyy welcomed Denmark’s announcement of $1 billion in military, humanitarian and economic aid for Ukraine this year.

About two-thirds of the funding is targeted for military aid, with the rest designated for humanitarian efforts, reconstruction and business initiatives.

Zelenskyy tweeted that he was grateful for the move, and that the aid is “a guarantee of bringing our common victory over the aggressor and the return of peace to Europe closer!”

VOA

The VOA is the Voice of America

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