"After turning the foreign military planes away from the Russian Federation state border, the Russian fighter (jet) returned safely to its airbase," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

The two aircraft were a P-3C Orion German patrol plane, and an anti-submarine patrol aircraft Atlantique 2, belonging to the French navy.

"The flight of the Russian fighter was carried out in strict accordance with international rules on the use of airspace over neutral waters," the ministry said.

It added that the Russian jet had carried out its operation "without crossing air routes or making dangerous rapprochement with an aircraft of a foreign state."

In April, Russia dispatched a fighter jet to escort a German naval aircraft over the Baltic Sea.

And in March, a US drone was downed in an incident involving a Russian jet over the Black Sea.