” . Josh Earnest , White House Press Secretary , released a statement on behalf of the president . “ There were reports of Russian planes flying dangerously close to a US naval ship and a Polish aircraft .
There are a group of distinct issues upon which cooperation is possible with Russia . Certainly Russia and the West share a common hope of stabilizing Afghanistan , and our cooperation there is not insignificant . Additionally , we have well - trodden mechanisms for reducing the dangers of military confrontation through accidental or inadvertent collisionsdisaster.accidentcrash.accidentcrashat sea or in the air , including “ hot lines ” between senior military leaders . These should be exercised often . We have in the past shared a reasonable level of intelligence in fields like counter - terrorism and counter - narcotics .
These close encounters of a military kind between the US and its allies and Russia have escalated significantly over the past two years , ever since Russia 's annexation of Crimea and the substantial break down of relations between East and West . They take various forms . They can be violations of national airspace ; narrowly avoided mid - air collisionsdisaster.accidentcrash.accidentcrash, close encounters at sea and simulated attack runs . The incidents have taken place over a wide area - in and around the Baltic states ; in the Baltic sea ; the Black Sea and even close to Stockholm , when the Swedish authorities believed a Russian submarine had violated its territorial waters in 2014 . They are regarded by defence analysts as a flexing of muscle - a reminder that Russia has military might and can not be pushed around .