Vladimir Putin calls urgent meeting with defence chiefs as Mike Pence’s plane turns back to DC for ’emergency’

VLADIMIR Putin has pulled out of an event in Moscow as US Vice President Mike Pence’s plane has been recalled to Washington over an “undisclosed emergency”.

The Russian leader is thought to have cancelled his schedule for the rest of the day and is urgently meeting with his defence minster Sergei Shoigu.

Mr Pence was due in New Hampshire today but his jet turned back and he is said to be at the White House.

It is not clear if the two are linked.

The White House and the Kremlin would not say the reason for the change of plans.

The news comes hours after the fire on board a Russian submarine left 14 dead after they were poisoned by fumes.

In the US, Air Force 2, carrying Mike Pence, 60, was turned around and returned to Washington.

A White House spokesman said: “Something came up that requires the VP to remain in DC. There is no cause for concern.”

However a White House official said there was no medical issues with ei

Pence was due to take part in a roundtable discussion in Salem on the drug crisis before flying back to Washington this evening.

“There’s been an emergency callback,” Randy Gentry, a representative from Pence’s office, told the crowd. “The vice president was asked to return to Washington so at this time we’re going to cancel today’s event.”

Earlier today 14 crew members died when the Russian navy submarine they were on caught fire while taking biometric measurements yesterday, the defence ministry said.

An investigation is underway into the incident on board the vessel, which was based out of the Northern Fleet main port of Severomorsk in Murmansk.

The deep-sea research vessel was carrying out a military survey in Russian territorial waters.

The ministry’s statement said the submersible is intended for studying the seabed, but didn’t give its name or type. Authorities haven’t given a cause for the fire, saying that an official investigation has started.

The Russian navy uses Priz-class and Bester-class deep water vehicles, which have a hull built of titanium and are capable of operating at a depth of 3,281 feet.

They are transported to the area of operation by a carrier vessel and can operate autonomously for up to 120 hours.

The blaze marks the deadliest Russian naval incident since 2008, when 20 died when a firefighting system was accidentally initiated while the Nerpa nuclear-powered submarine of Russia’s Pacific Fleet was undergoing trials.

In the deadliest naval incident in post-Soviet Russia, the Kursk nuclear submarine exploded and sank on Aug. 12, 2000, during naval manoeuvres in the Barents Sea, killing all 118 crew members.

Russian Defence Ministry reported. “On July 1, a fire broke out in Russian territorial waters on a research deep-water apparatus designed to study the bottom space and the bottom of the World Ocean in the interests of the Russian Navy.

“During the biometric measurements, 14 submariners died as a result of burning with poisoned products”

“The causes of the incident are established. The investigation is conducted by the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.”

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