France says warplanes escorted by Russian jet over Black Sea were on observation mission

Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - The French defence ministry said a Russian jet escorted three French military planes over the Black Sea on Tuesday and on Wednesday.

They were on an observation mission in international airspace, it said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russia's defence ministry was cited by Interfax news agency as saying that Russia had scrambled a Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet to escort two French fighter jets and a refuelling aircraft over the Black Sea.

(Reporting by Tangui Salaun, Writing by Dominique Vidalon; editing by John Stonestreet)