US, Russia blame each other as ships nearly collide

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The U.S. and Russia accused each other of unsafe actions Friday after an American guided-missile cruiser and a Russian destroyer came within 165 feet of each other in the Philippine Sea.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters that the U.S. will file a formal diplomatic complaint about the incident and will have military-to-military conversations with the Russians. He added that the encounter will not deter the U.S. from conducting naval operations.

The U.S. 7th Fleet said the Russian destroyer put the safety of the USS Chancellorsville and its crew at risk, forcing it to reverse all engines at full throttle to avoid a collision.

No one was injured, and the ships never came into contact, said Navy Cdr. Clay Doss, a spokesman for the Japan-based 7th Fleet.

An American helicopter was preparing to land on the Chancellorsville, which was traveling on a steady course, when the Russian destroyer, traveling behind the U.S. ship, started moving faster and approached as close as 50 to 100 feet, the 7th Fleet said in a statement.

With U.S.-Russian relations at post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Russian and U.S. militaries have frequently exchanged accusations of what they describe as unsafe maneuvers by the other side’s warplanes and navy ships.