US tracks Russian military jet near Alaska
Russian military aircraft entered international airspace close to Alaska, the U.S. and Canada's joint command said on Wednesday.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracked the Russian aircraft in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), the militaries said in a statement.
The Alaska ADIZ is international airspace, but all aircraft entering it must identify themselves. The Russian aircraft did not cross over into U.S. nor Canadian airspace, NORAD said. It did not specify which type of Russian aircraft were tracked.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Russian military aircraft regularly enter the Alaska ADIZ. The binational command said in separate incidents mid-April and in February it was aware of Russian military aircraft in the Alaska ADIZ. F-35 stealth fighter jets intercepted two of Moscow's Tu-95 strategic bombers and two Su-35 fighter jets west of Alaska across two days in February.
NORAD is responsible for the continent's air defense network, and being able to quickly respond to threats heading for both Canada and the U.S. It is also in charge of making sure civilian aircraft don't breach restrictions placed over the U.S. president's location.
Alaska's Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, said in September 2024 that "Russian and Chinese incursions into U.S. zones off Alaska have become an increasingly frequent occurrence." NORAD had reported several Russian military aircraft in the Alaska ADIZ in September, and said two Chinese H-6 aircraft were intercepted along with two Russian bombers in July 2024.
Although President Donald Trump had pursued a thaw in relations between the White House and the Kremlin, the Republican has become increasingly frustrated with Russia over its reluctance to ink a ceasefire deal with Ukraine. Before his administration took office, relations between Russia and the U.S.—as well as many other Western countries—had dipped to their worst point in decades.
A third round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials is set to begin on Wednesday in Istanbul. Previous negotiations yielded agreements on prisoner exchanges and the remains of dead soldiers, but made little progress toward a ceasefire.
Trump had swerved overtly criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, but earlier this month greenlit more U.S. equipment deliveries to Ukraine and slapped the Kremlin with a 50-day deadline to agree a deal, or face "severe" economic punishment.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday he did not believe there would be "miraculous breakthroughs" during the talks in Turkey.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv's delegation had agreed on the meeting's agenda and "which topics are key for Ukraine."
"Ukraine has never wanted this war," Zelensky added in his evening address on Tuesday. "And it is Russia that must end this war that it started itself."
Former Ukrainian defense minister Rustem Umerov, now serving as the chief of Ukraine's national security and defense council, will head up the Ukrainian delegation, Zelensky said.
