"Answer me, do you want war?"

"Answer me, do you want war?"

Commenting on threats by a number of US senators, specifically Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, that Russian planes in international airspace should be shot down if they approach U.S. military equipment, Antonov pointed out that such calls by U.S. congressmen "exceed the limits of common sense".

"The Ministry of Defense of Russia explained in detail the reasons and procedure for the actions of the Russian pilots during yesterday's incident over the Black Sea. I will repeat for those who have not found the strength to look at the situation objectively: our fighters did not come into contact with the American drone. Russia did everything to prevent such incidents - it communicated information to the international community in advance about the borders of the area of temporary use of airspace, established for the purposes of carrying out a special military operation," explained Antonov, referring to the fall of the American MKu-9 drone on Tuesday.

"Of course, the Pentagon is offended that it is losing expensive equipment. But in this case, the accusations of the American army for unprofessionalism should be directed at them," the diplomat said.

"As for the mentioned senator, this is by no means the first attempt by a vile senator to cause a dangerous escalation in Russian-US relations. A year ago, he called on the citizens of our country to assassinate the President of Russia. Does the senator seriously believe that a direct military conflict with Russia is in the interest of the voters who entrusted him with the care of their lives and well-being?" the ambassador added.

Antonov warned that a deliberate attack on a Russian plane in neutral airspace is not only a crime under international law, but also an open declaration of war against the largest nuclear power.

"An armed conflict between Russia and the United States of America would be fundamentally different from the proxy war that the Americans are waging remotely against us in Ukraine. Are they on Capitol Hill prepared to expose American citizens and the international community to the risk of all-out nuclear war? Answer me, honorable senator!", asked the Russian ambassador.

According to him, Russia does not want a conflict with another nuclear power.

"We are not looking for a conflict with a nuclear power. We continue to maintain contact, including through the Ministry of Defense, to prevent inadvertent collisions. I would like U.S. politicians to have the same attitude towards relations with Russia," Antonov emphasized, as reported by Sputnik.