A Belgian F-16 fighter patrolling the Baltic region on Friday morning intercepted two Russian Air Force fighters flying over a US destroyer off the coast of Lithuania.

"The Belgian F-16 conducted a professional intercept and left the scene, demonstrating that NATO remains ready, vigilant and prepared to respond to any potential threat," NATO's air command said in a brief statement.

The USS Donald Cook is deployed to the region with a focus on "regional stability" and "honing anti-submarine warfare capabilities in the Atlantic," NATO said.

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A Belgian F-16 fighter patrolling the Baltic region on Friday morning intercepted two Russian Air Force fighters flying over a US destroyer off the coast of Lithuania.

A video released by NATO's Allied Air Command on Monday showed the Russian jets "manoeuvring in international airspace" over the USS Donald Cook, a US destroyer deployed to the Baltic Sea since April 11.

"The Belgian F-16 conducted a professional intercept and left the scene, demonstrating that NATO remains ready, vigilant and prepared to respond to any potential threat," the air command said in a brief statement.

The USS Donald Cook is deployed to the region with a focus on "regional stability" and "honing anti-submarine warfare capabilities in the Atlantic," NATO said.

The USS Porter was also deployed on April 13 for a joint exercise with the Regina Maria, a Romanian frigate.

"These deployments show that NATO allies are working closely together, determined to ensure that potential adversaries do not exploit the situation to further their interests," Oana Lungescu, a NATO representative, said in a statement on Friday.

NATO members routinely rotate their patrols in the Baltic airspace. The US military has made note of recent provocations made by Russian fighter jets.

On April 8, US F-22 fighters intercepted two Russian IL-38s, a maritime patrolling aircraft, entering the Bering Sea in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.

A week later, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet buzzed a US Navy P-8A Poseidon, an anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft, flying over the Mediterranean Sea. The Russian jet flew an "inverted maneuver" 25 feet in front of the US aircraft, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa said, adding that the crew of the P-8A Poseidon experienced "wake turbulence" during the 42-minute encounter.

On Sunday, another Su-35 fighter intercepted a P-8A Poseidon over the Mediterranean Sea in a similar fashion.

Belgian jets have intercepted Russian aircraft in the past. In September, Belgian F-16s were scrambled to intercept two Russian Tu-160 bombers accompanied by two Sukhoi Su-27s over the Baltic Sea.