Several Russian military planes made a "provocative" and "unnecessary" pass over a Canadian Navy vessel as it was participating in a NATO mission in the Black Sea, Canadian defense officials said.
Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Toronto was taking part in the Sunday mission when three Russian military aircraft performed a "buzz" maneuver- meaning the planes flew over the ship at a low-level as a sign of awareness of the Canadian ship's presence, the Toronto Sun reported.
"While the Russian military aircraft that circled the HMCS Toronto did not in any way pose a threat to the Canadian ship, their actions were unnecessarily provocative and risk escalating tensions even further," Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson said in a statement.
The incident comes as the European Union, along with Canada, slapped another round of sanctions on Russian businesses in an attempt to curb Moscow's highly-suspected involvement in the crisis underway in eastern Ukraine.
A Russian Defense ministry spokesman acknowledged that two Russian planes had flown in the area but said they did it "without making an approach on the foreign military vessel," according to The Moscow Times.
Russia has repeatedly denied it has supplied any weapons or funding for the pro-Russian separatists that have waged a five-month war against the Ukrainian government. But U.S. and Ukrainian officials continue to site evidence of Russia's presence on and across the border.
Over 2,000 people have died during the war that has brought about a return in Cold War-like tensions between Russia and the West.
"Canada will continue to work with our NATO allies to build military interoperability and partnerships in this part of the world," Nicholson said of the training exercises with vessels from the U.S., Ukraine and Spain among other countries in the Black Sea, according to The Moscow Times.
"The message that Canada is sending- along with the rest of our NATO allies- is that Russia's reckless actions must stop."
