Europe has warned Kremlin that NATO is indeed prepared to shoot down Russian aircraft that violate its airspace, - Bloomberg
European diplomats privately warned Russia that NATO is ready to shoot down Russian aircraft if airspace violations continue, following the deliberate intrusion of MiG-31 fighter jets into Estonia.
This was reported by Bloomberg, citing unnamed officials familiar with the negotiations, according to Censor.NET.
It is noted that at a "tense meeting" in Moscow this week, diplomats from the UK, France, and Germany expressed their concerns about the intrusion of three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets into Estonia on September 19.
After the meeting, the European envoys concluded that the violation of Estonian airspace was a deliberate tactic ordered by Russian commanders.
Officials noted that during negotiations in Moscow, a Russian diplomat told Europeans that the incursions into airspace were allegedly a response to "Ukrainian attacks on Crimea."
The Kremlin said that Ukraine's operations would have been impossible without NATO support — and, as a result, Russia believes it has already entered into a confrontation involving European countries, Bloomberg reports.
The Kremlin also claims that Russia justifies the violation of airspace by the fact that it is already "engaged in a confrontation including European nations."
During these talks in Moscow, according to the agency, the Russian side took extensive notes, leading the European team to assume that they had been instructed to provide a detailed report on the NATO position up the chain of command.
As a reminder, on September 19, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets flew into Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission and stayed there for 12 minutes.
The head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, condemned the violation of Estonian airspace by three Russian fighter jets.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on EU leaders to approve the 19th package of sanctions against Russia as soon as possible.
Due to the incident, Estonia asked for NATO's advice.
In turn, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that their MiGs allegedly "did not violate" Estonian airspace.
