NATO condemned the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets last week and said that Russia "bears full responsibility for these escalating actions".
This is stated in a statement by the North Atlantic Council.
At Estoniaʼs request, the North Atlantic Council met on September 23 to discuss the incursion of Russian aircraft into the airspace of a NATO country on September 19.
The Alliance said the incursion "is part of a broader pattern of increasingly irresponsible behavior by Russia".
They recalled that this is the second time in two weeks that the North Atlantic Council has convened a meeting under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty — the first was on September 10 in response to the flight of Russian drones into Polish territory.
A number of NATO countries, including Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Romania, have also recently encountered violations of their airspace by the Russian Federation.
The Alliance promised a "decisive response to Russiaʼs reckless actions" and emphasized that these and other "irresponsible steps" by the Russian Federation will not deter allies from their commitments to support Ukraine.
"Russia should have no doubts: NATO and allies will use, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military means to defend itself and deter all threats from all directions," the statement said.
Russian fighters over Estonia: what is known
Three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission on September 19, staying there for a total of 12 minutes. As a result, the Estonian government initiated Article 4 consultations with NATO.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that the incursion of Russian fighter jets into the airspace of a NATO country is not an accident, but a systemic campaign by the Russian Federation against the West, which requires a "systemic response and strong actions".
At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Defense denied that their MiG-31 fighters had flown into Estonian airspace.
In light of this incident, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting on September 22. This is the first time in Estoniaʼs 34 years of UN membership that the country has requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
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