The NATO F-16 supersonic multirole fighter attempted to get close to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's plane over neutral Baltic waters but was chased away by a Russian jet, a Sputnik correspondent reported Wednesday.

Shoigu was en route to the westernmost Russian city of Kaliningrad when the F-16 attempted to make an approach.

Russia's Sukhoi Su-27 fighter, one of the aircraft escorting Shoigu's plane, then displayed its weapons, prompting the F-16 to retreat.

On June 6, the Russian Defense Ministry said it scrambled a Su-27 air superiority fighter over the Baltics to to intercept and escort a US B-52 strategic bomber that approached its borders.

On May 12, the ministry said Moscow scrambled a Su-30 fighter plane on May 9 over the Black Sea to intercept a US reconnaissance aircraft.