Russia demands Swiss explanation for jet tracking incident

Moscow has asked Bern to explain the recent incident of a Russian airliner tracked by Swiss fighter jets "in rather close distance," the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

On Friday, several Swiss fighter jets reportedly tracked in the country's airspace a Russian plane with journalists onboard heading for the APEC summit in Lima, Peru, which was said to be in a quite dangerous distance.

"This has caused serious concerns of the passengers onboard. We have not left unnoticed the media reports on the issue and our embassy in Switzerland has requested explanations from the Swiss side," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Rossiya 24 television channel.

She added that Moscow would respond "in an appropriate manner after receiving their explanation."

(APD)