West, Russia trade barbs at UN over NATO airspace ‘violations’

NATO allies accused Russia at the United Nations on Monday of violating the alliance’s airspace in Estonia and Poland — actions that Britain said risked triggering an armed conflict.

Confronting Russia at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Your reckless actions risk direct armed confrontation between NATO and Russia. Our alliance is defensive but be under no illusion we stand ready to defend NATO’s skies and NATO’s territory.”

Estonia said on Friday that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets had entered Estonian airspace without permission and stayed for a total of 12 minutes before they were forced to withdraw in an episode that Western officials said was designed to test NATO’s readiness and resolve. The Security Council convened on Monday to discuss the issue. NATO consultations were due to take place on Tuesday. Cooper’s comments were echoed by other Western ministers in the Security Council, including EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who suggested the multiple incidents could not be considered an accident.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister said such actions by Moscow should be met robustly and renewed an offer by Kyiv to integrate its air defenses into those of neighbouring Western countries to counter the Russian front. The United States’ new envoy to the UN, Michael Waltz, making his first appearance since taking his post, said Moscow needed to defuse tensions, not exacerbate them.

Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmytry Polyanskiy, said there was no evidence backing their claims and accused European powers of levying baseless accusations. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine swapped accusations of deadly drone strikes on civilian areas.