Kremlin slams statements about NATO's readiness to down Russian jets as 'irresponsible'

  MOSCOW: Statements about NATO countries' readiness to shoot down Russian military aircraft for allegedly violating the alliance's ...

 

MOSCOW: Statements about NATO countries' readiness to shoot down Russian military aircraft for allegedly violating the alliance's airspace are irresponsible, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Commenting on a Bloomberg report that diplomats from the UK, Germany, and France had met with Russian officials to protest alleged violations of Polish and Estonian airspace and to warn of their readiness to shoot down Russian aircraft, the spokesman said: "I don't even want to talk about this. It's a very irresponsible statement. It's very irresponsible because the accusations against Russia that its military aircraft violated someone's airspace and invaded someone else's one are groundless. No convincing evidence of this has been presented."

Reporters asked Peskov to comment on Bloomberg's report that, at a closed meeting, Russian representatives allegedly admitted to violating the airspace of Western countries in response to strikes on Crimea. "Ask Bloomberg where they got this information," the Kremlin spokesman responded.

Earlier, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said that the country's authorities had requested consultations with NATO members in accordance with Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty regarding the alleged airspace violation. Prior to that, Estonian authorities claimed that, on the morning of September 19, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated Estonian airspace.

In turn, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that Russian MiG-31 fighter jets did not violate Estonian airspace. According to the ministry, the jets carried out a scheduled flight from Karelia to the Kaliningrad Region. In a statement, the ministry said the flight was conducted in strict accordance with international airspace rules, without violating the borders of other states, which is confirmed by objective monitoring. During the flight, the Russian aircraft did not deviate from the agreed flight path and did not violate Estonian airspace, the ministry emphasized.

-News Feed