Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, Army Gen. Mark Milley, are expected to hold a news briefing on Wednesday after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting and a day following a Russian fighter jet allegedly collided with an American Reaper surveillance drone over the Black Sea.

According to the U.S. Air Force, a Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the U.S.’s MQ-9 aircraft at 2 a.m. Eastern (7 a.m. local time), which conducts intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It was accompanied by a second Su-27 that wasn’t involved in the collision but that U.S. officials said was also involved in “unsafe” conduct.

“Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” the U.S. release said. “This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional.”

Russia’s defence ministry has denied the collision, saying the U.S. drone was flying over the Black Sea near Crimea and intruded into the area that Russia has claimed is off-limits as part of its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine. That caused the military to scramble jets to intercept it, according to the ministry.

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