MOSCOW. Aug 23 (Interfax) - Russia's Northern Fleet has scrambled a MiG-29 fighter aircraft because of a Royal Norwegian Air Force plane approaching Russia's borders over the Barents Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"To identify the aerial target and prevent a violation of Russia's state border, a MiG-29 fighter aircraft from the Northern Fleet's air defense forces on duty was scrambled. The crew of the Russian fighter identified the aerial target as a P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Air Force," the Defense Ministry's National Defense Control Center said on Wednesday.
"As the Russian fighter aircraft was approaching it, the foreign military plane turned away from the Russian Federation's state border. No violation of the Russian Federation's state border was allowed," it said.
"The Russian fighter's flight strictly complied with the international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters, without crossing international air routes and without dangerously approaching the foreign aircraft," it said.