Russia's ambassador to NATO accused the U.S. Wednesday of trying to
intimidate Moscow by sailing a Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea, and
vowed Russia would respond to future incidents with "all necessary
measures." alexander Grushko spoke following a meeting of the
NATO-Russia council in Brussels, the first in nearly two years. The
meeting, which involved Grushko and ambassadors from NATO's 28 member
states, ran over its allotted time by about 90 minutes, but produced no
major breakthroughs."It's better to talk than not to talk," Grushko told reporters, before adding that relationships between NATO and Russia would not improve "without real steps on NATO's side to downgrade military activity in the area adjacent to the Russian Federation."
Reuters reported that U.S. ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute pressed Grushko about the April 11 incident in which two Russian Su-24 attack aircraft buzzed the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea. The destroyer was conducting flight operations with a Polish helicopter when the jets came within 1,000 yards of the destroyer at a height of 100 feet. The following day, a Russian jet came within just 30 feet of the destroyer.
