U.S. denied it carried out military operations in Russian territorial waters

Russia accused Washington of breaking international law and creating a national security threat over the incident.

The United States on Saturday denied that it had carried out military operations in Russian territorial waters, after Moscow said a Russian naval vessel chased away a U.S. submarine in Russian waters in the Pacific.

Russia accused Washington of breaking international law and creating a national security threat over the incident at a time of high tensions between Moscow and Washington over a Russian military buildup near Ukraine.

Interfax news agency cited the Russian Defence Ministry as saying a Russian naval vessel chased away a U.S. submarine in Russian waters in the Pacific after the submarine ignored the ship’s orders to surface.

“There is no truth to the Russian claims of our operations in their territorial waters,” Captain Kyle Raines, a U.S. military spokesman, said in a statement.

“I will not comment on the precise location of our submarines but we do fly, sail, and operate safely in international waters,” the statement added.

It is common for the United States to monitor military activity being carried out by other countries without having to enter their territorial waters.

The crew of the Marshal Shaposhnikov frigate used “corresponding means” to make the submarine leave Russian waters, the Russian Defence Ministry was quoted as saying.

It said it had called in the U.S. defence attache over the incident.