The United States Navy on Friday said a Russian destroyer almost collided with one of its guided missile cruisers in the Philippine Sea in an incident it denounced as unsafe and unprofessional.

US Navy’s P-8A Poseidon encountered Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35 (Flanker-E). The destroyer  intercepted the American cruiser three times, with the second manoeuvre considered dangerous for the US warship.

“While operating in the Philippine Sea, a Russian Destroyer, Udaloy I DD 572 made an unsafe manoeuvre against USS Chancellorsville,” US Seventh Fleet spokesman, Commander Clayton Doss said.

Describing a Russian assertion that the US ship had acted dangerously as propaganda, Doss added that the Russian destroyer came to within 15 to 30 metres of the Chancellorsville.

However, the Russian Navy was quoted as saying that the USS Chancellorsville, a guided-missile cruiser, had come within just 50 meters of the Russian destroyer  which had been forced to take emergency action to avoid a collision.

Just last month, a Russian Air Force fighter intercepted a US anti-submarine aircraft over the Mediterranean.