Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said that the United States does not know whether a Russian fighter intentionally shot down an American drone over the Black Sea, CNN reports.

It’s an issue officials are looking into, he said at a news conference Wednesday, adding that he has a phone call scheduled with his Russian counterpart to discuss that, among other issues.

“We know the interception was intentional, we know the aggressive behavior was intentional, we also know it was very unprofessional and very dangerous,” Milley said.

As for the physical contact between the plane and the drone, “that remains to be seen.”

However, Milley said the US had “absolute evidence of contact and interception”.

US officials said two Russian jets dropped fuel on an American MQ-9 drone in international airspace on Tuesday. Then one of the planes “struck our MQ-9 aircraft, causing a crash,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

Russia denies direct contact with the drone.

“There’s no doubt that part was intentional,” Milley said, referring to the planes that dropped fuel on the drone. “The actual physical contact of the plane… I’m not so sure about that,” he added.

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