Moscow
\nThe Kremlin said on Wednesday that relations with the United States were in a \u201clamentable state\u201d and at their lowest level, after Washington accused Russia of downing one of its reconnaissance drones over the Black Sea.
\nKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there had been no high-level contact with Washington over the incident, and that he had nothing to add to a statement issued by Russia\u2019s Defence Ministry. He said bilateral relations were \u201cat their lowest point, in a very lamentable state\u201d but that \u201cat the same time, Russia has never refused constructive dialogue, and is not refusing now\u201d.
\nThe US military said on Tuesday that a Russian fighter plane had clipped the propeller of one of its spy drones as it flew over the Black Sea in international air space, causing it to plunge into the water. US Air Force General James Hecker called it an \u201cunsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians\u201d. Russia denied hitting the drone, suggesting it had crashed due to \u201csharp manoeuvring\u201d.
\nRussia\u2019s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said that the drone \u201cdeliberately and provocatively was moving towards Russian territory with transponders turned off\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Moscow The Kremlin said on Wednesday that relations with the United States were in a \u201clamentable state\u201d and at their lowest level, after Washington accused Russia of downing one of its reconnaissance drones over the Black Sea. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there had been no high-level contact with Washington over the incident, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-319756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n