Kremlin Says NATO Warnings on Russian Jets An Escalation

Warnings that NATO countries would be ready to shoot down Russian military jets violating alliance airspace are dangerous because of their consequences, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says, according to a video posted by Russian state-tv reporter Pavel Zarubin on Telegram.

“This is another very significant escalation of tensions near our borders,” Peskov says

NOTE: European diplomats warned the Kremlin this week that NATO is ready to respond to violations of its airspace, including by shooting down Russian planes, according to officials familiar with the exchange

Meeting in Moscow followed incursion by three MiG-31 fighter jets over Estonia last week, according to the officials

Melinda Haring, Non-Resident Senior Fellow the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center says the comments are a sign Russia has a weaker hand in the war.

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.

Asked about the warnings, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “I don’t even want to talk about this, because it’s a very irresponsible statement,” the state-run Tass news agency reported on Friday. Responding to a query about Bloomberg’s reporting, Peskov reiterated Russia’s position that no evidence has confirmed Russian airspace violations.

NATO’s eastern members have faced a series of violations this month that have posed an unprecedented test of the alliance’s resolve at a moment when Vladimir Putin is stepping up Russian attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and US backing for Kyiv is wavering.

“The UK stands ready to robustly defend our airspace against any incursion,” a government spokesperson said.

President Donald Trump this week urged Ukraine to win back all the territory captured by Russia “with the support of the European Union” and defined the US role as selling weapons that allies could ship to the battlefield.

The account of the meeting in Moscow shows that Putin has been given a more forceful warning about the volley of jets and drones into the skies over eastern Europe and offers an insight into the brinkmanship between the two sides.

During the talks, a Russian diplomat told the Europeans that the incursions were a response to Ukrainian attacks on Crimea, the officials said. The Kremlin said those operations would not have been possible without NATO support and, as a result, Russia considers that it is already engaged in a confrontation including European nations.

The Russian side took extensive notes during the conversation, the officials said, leading the European team to speculate that they had been instructed to provide a detailed readout of the NATO position up the chain of command.

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