MOSCOW - The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday it had sent a fighter plane on Friday to intercept a US aircraft approaching its border over the Baltic Sea because the American plane had turned off its transponder, which is needed for identification. The Pentagon said the US Air Force RC-135 plane had been flying a routine route in international airspace and that the Russian SU-27 fighter had intercepted it in an 'unsafe and unprofessional' way. CNN reported that the Russian jet had come within about 100 feet of the US plane and had performed a barrel roll. 'All flights of Russian planes are conducted in accordance with international regulations on the use of airspace,' the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. 'The US Air Force has two solutions: either not to fly near our borders or to turn the transponder on for identification.'
