© AP Photo/ Seth Perlman
US military pilots would have to shoot at Russian planes that perform flyby maneuvers over American aircraft if diplomatic channels to prevent such incidents fail, US presidential candidate Donald Trump told an Indiana radio station on Monday.
Trump emphasized that Washington's initial response to such incidents should be diplomacy.
"And if that doesn't work out, I don't know... at a certain point, when that sucker comes by, you gotta shoot," Trump stated.
On Friday, US media reported that a Russian Su-27 jet performed a "barrel-roll" over a US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane in the Baltic Sea.
Trump said on Monday that the maneuver demonstrated a lack of respect for the United States and President Barack Obama.
Flyby incidents in the Baltic Sea have been a source of tension between Russia and the United States.
On April 13, the United States expressed concern after Russian Su-24 tactical bombers flew over the US guided missile destroyer Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea.
Earlier this month, Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov refuted a similar report and explained that the Russian military had detected an unknown aerial target heading for the Russian border at high speed. A Su-27 jet was dispatched and identified the craft as a US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane, which then changed its course.
Franz Klintsevich, the first deputy chair of the Russian upper-house Committee on Security and Defense, said on Saturday that the US media hyped the reports ahead of an announcement that NATO will deploy additional forces near the Russian border.
world already despises us. We pay some of their "leaders" to "talk nice," but even they hate us. And we deserve their hate.