NATO condemned the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian military aircraft on September 19, but stressed that the Alliance's reactions will be tailored to the level of the threat. After consultations requested by Estonia, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that shooting down hostile aircraft is not an automatic action, writes Focus.
"Decisions will be made in real time based on available information about the threat posed by the aircraft," Rutte said. He specified that in the specific case of Estonia "there was no immediate threat".
The incident, in which three Russian MiG-31s spent 12 minutes in Estonian airspace, was identified by NATO as part of "a trend of increasingly irresponsible behavior by Russia". The alliance confirmed that it remains firmly committed to the defense of all allies and to the force of Article 5 of the Treaty.
The case was also discussed in the UN Security Council, where British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper warned that Moscow's actions "hide the risk of direct confrontation between Russia and NATO".