The United States summoned Russia’s ambassador to Washington after a Russian fighter jet downed a U.S. military drone over the Black Sea, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, writes Reuters.

The U.S. ambassador to Moscow has conveyed a strong message to Russia’s foreign affairs ministry and U.S. officials had briefed allies and partners about the incident, Price told reporters on a phone briefing.

“We can confirm Ambassador (Anatoly) Antonov was summoned to the State Department this afternoon to meet with Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried to discuss Russia’s unsafe and unprofessional operations over the Black Sea, which resulted in the downing today of an unmanned U.S. aircraft”, - a senior State Department official said.

A U.S military MQ-9 surveillance drone crashed into the Black Sea on Tuesday after being intercepted by Russian fighter jets, in the first such incident since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over a year ago.