European diplomats warned the Kremlin this week that NATO is ready to respond to further violations of its airspace with full force, including by shooting down Russian planes, according to officials familiar with the exchange.
At a tense meeting in Moscow, British, French and German envoys addressed their concerns about an incursion by three MiG-31 fighter jets over Estonia last week, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the talks took place behind closed doors. Following the conversation, they concluded that the violation had been a deliberate tactic ordered by Russian commanders.
Russian officials have denied their planes crossed into Estonian airspace and insisted that they are not trying to test NATO. They said that a separate incident when drones crossed into Poland was the result of an error. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov this week said Russian military flights are guided by international rules.
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