Moscow fury as Swiss jet comes 'dangerously' close to plane

October 20, 2015 08:11

Russia today lashed out after a Swiss warplane flew "dangerously close" to one of its passenger jets carrying a senior parliamentary delegation, although Switzerland defended it as a routine check.

The incident, which took place on Monday morning, initially sparked a diplomatic spat between Moscow and Paris after the Russian foreign ministry claimed it was a French military jet and summoned France's envoy for an explanation.

Moscow later acknowledged the error and apologised to Paris through diplomatic channels.

The Swiss defence ministry confirmed the incident, saying one of its F-18 warplanes had approached the Russian craft for "a routine check".

On board the Russian plane was a parliamentary delegation headed by Russian State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin who was en route to a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, the Russian foreign ministry said.

Swiss defence ministry spokesman Peter Minder told AFP the incident had taken place in Swiss airspace over the city of Bienne, also called Biel or Bienna.

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