'So attacking other people's military kit is an incredibly unwise and foolish thing to do by the Russians.' One of the things we are very very keen to do is make sure we don't get into conflict with the Russians, and the Russians shouldn't be trying to seek conflict with NATO,' he said. 'The Russians are not directly in conflict with NATO. Mr Seely said the US had 'every right' to be operating in international airspace, as did the Russians. It's the sort of thing that escalates a crisis into something more serious quite quickly. 'It's very irresponsible of the Russians to do that. Tory MP Bob Seely, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the hostile action was 'incredibly unwise and foolish'.

He added: 'This was a blatant attack over international airspace and should not pass without consequences.' 'Russia would not have dumped fuel if the plane had been manned.' Tory Defence Committee chair Tobias Ellwood told the Express: 'This incident illustrates how drone warfare is altering the character of conflict. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken to his Russian counterpart, calling the encounter 'provocative in nature' and saying it risked escalating the situation around the Black Sea. It is the first direct confrontation between Russia and the US since the start of the war in Ukraine.

US officials have said the drone is in deep water thousands of feet below the surface, and is 'no longer' of intelligence value. Moscow also said it would work to retrieve the wreckage in what would be a propaganda coup for Putin, after earlier warning that it will 'consider any action with US weaponry as openly hostile'. The dramatic 42-second clip follows Russian claims its jet did not make contact with the drone, instead claiming the drone crashed on its own after 'sharp manoeuvering'.

Claimed by evangeline anderson