MOSCOW/BRUSSELS. Feb 11 (Interfax) - The incident in which a warplane reportedly nearly missed a Russian passenger airliner over Kabul has been exhausted. NATO has provided exhaustive explanations, said Russia's Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko.
"NATO responded to our inquiry with all seriousness. We discussed the issue at the international secretariat and at the Allied Command in Mons. Our counterparts provided a sufficiently detailed report on what happened in the sky above Kabul, citing aerial surveillance data. We received an official letter just a few days ago. So this page may be turned over," Grushko said in an interview with Interfax.
It was reported earlier with reference to a source related to the air force that a Russian Boeing 767 en route from Bali to Yekaterinburg was closely approached by a warplane over Kabul on January 22, 2013.
"A Nordwind Boeing 767 was dangerously approached by a military plane in Afghan airspace in the Kabul area at about noon GMT on Tuesday," the source said. The planes were only 100 feet from each other, and there was a chance they could have collided.
The Boeing's collision avoidance system warned the pilots about the danger. "The Russian pilot could not determine the plane's nationality or type," he said.
A high-ranking Moscow source told Interfax the warplane that approached the Boeing presumably belonged to the NATO airbase stationed in Afghanistan. "The fighter that approached the Russian Boeing had been painted in a way similar to the NATO planes based in Afghanistan. The plane had its red anti-collision flash beacons on," he said.
The NATO airbase took notice of the incident, the source said. "There was a report from the NATO base that they took notice of this information and would bear it in mind to prevent such incidents in the future," he added.
The NATO airbase in Afghanistan includes mostly U.S. Air Force planes, he said.
The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan later said they had no information about a NATO plane flying dangerously near a Russian airliner over Kabul.
Coalition Forces spokesperson Lt. Amy Hession said no immediate information was available to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) about a Russian commercial passenger liner's involvement in such an incident.
Hession said information was available, however, that a Russian plane nearly collided with an other plane in the sky above Afghanistan, adding that none of the planes belonging to ISAF was involved in that incident.