MOSCOW: Russia’s Defense Ministry denied Sunday that a Russian jet that intercepted a US Air Force plane earlier this week had acted unsafely, dismissing the Pentagon’s criticism.

Earlier, Russia’s military rejected criticism by US European Command that a Russian jet had made aggressive maneuvers near a US reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, a second incident in the region between the Cold War-era foes in the past week.

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s military has been beefed up by increased spending and ambitious rearmament, while Moscow, which accuses NATO of expanding toward Russia’s borders, tries to pursue a more assertive foreign policy.

The Pentagon said Saturday that a Russian SU-27 had flown in an “unsafe and unprofessional” manner while intercepting a US Air Force reconnaissance plane above the Baltic Sea on April 14.

“The entire flight of the Russian plane was conducted in strict compliance with international rules on the use of air space,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. “There were no emergency situations.”

Moscow said the SU-27 had been dispatched to identify an “aerial target traveling toward the Russian border at high speed.” The aircraft detected by Russia was an American RC-135 plane, which the Pentagon said was conducting a routine flight.

When the RC-135 established visual contact with the Russian jet, the American plane “changed its flight route away from the Russian border,” Konashenkov said.

Pentagon spokeswoman Laura Seal said Saturday that the US aircraft had “at no time crossed into Russian territory.”

The incident came shortly after Russian aircraft repeatedly buzzed the USS Donald Cook this past week, including an incident Tuesday in which a Russian Su-24 flew 30 feet above the war ship in a “simulated attack profile,” according to the US military’s European Command.