( CNN ) -- One day before U.S. President Barack Obama 's Canadian visit last week , Canadian fighter jets intercepted two Russian bombers near Canadian air space , the defense minister said Friday . Canadian jets intercepted Russian TU-95 Bear bomber aircraft last week similar to this one . `` At no time did Russian planes enter Canadian air space , but within 24 hours of the president 's visit here ... we did scramble F-18 fighter planes from NORAD in Canada command , '' Peter MacKay said in a news conference in Ottawa . The Russian planes were in international waters , about 118 miles ( 190 kilometers ) northeast of Tuktoyuktuk , in Canada 's Northwest Territories . `` It was a routine flight over international airspace , '' Yevgeniy Khorishko , a spokesman at the Russian Embassy in Washington , told CBC news . NORAD , the North American Aerospace Defense Command , is a joint U.S.-Canadian agency in charge of aerospace control for the North American continent . `` As has been done on previous occasions , ( Canadian pilots ) sent very clear signals that are understood , that ( the ) aircraft was to turn around , turn tail and head back to its own air space , which it did , '' MacKay said . The Russian planes were identified as TU-95 Bear aircraft by NORAD spokesman Michael Kucharek .
Russian bombers were in international waters when Canadian jets intercepted them . Canada scrambled the F-18 fighter planes from NORAD in Ottawa Airport . Russian planes identified as TU-95 Bear aircraft , NORAD spokesman says . ` ` It was a routine operation , '' Russian Embassy spokesman in Ottawa says .