Moscow denies its fighter jets crossed the NATO state\u2019s border<\/p>\n
The Russian Defense Ministry has denied that its warplanes entered Estonia\u2019s airspace on Friday.\u00a0
\nThe Baltic EU and NATO state had claimed that three aircraft violated its airspace for 12 minutes in what it called an \u201cunprecedented brazen\u201d incursion.
\nIn a brief statement on Saturday, the Defense Ministry said three MiG-31s were conducting a routine flight from Karelia Region, east of Finland, to an airfield in Kaliningrad Region, a Russian exclave bordering Poland and Lithuania.
\nThe jets flew over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, more than 3 kilometers from Estonia\u2019s Vaindloo island, \u201cwithout violating Estonian airspace,\u201d the MOD said.
\n\u201cThe flight was carried out in strict accordance with international airspace regulations and without crossing the borders of other countries,\u201d the ministry added.<\/p>\n
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Estonia has requested urgent consultations with its fellow NATO members, activating Article 4 of the alliance\u2019s treaty. \u201cNATO\u2019s response to any provocation must be united and strong. We consider it essential to consult with our allies to ensure shared situational awareness and to agree on our next joint steps,\u201d Prime Minister Kristen Michal said.
\nOn September 9, Poland accused Russia of sending at least 19 drones into its airspace, a claim Moscow has denied. NATO responded by deploying additional aircraft to patrol Polish skies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Moscow denies its fighter jets crossed the NATO state\u2019s border The Russian Defense Ministry has denied that its warplanes entered Estonia\u2019s airspace on Friday.\u00a0 The Baltic EU and NATO state…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t