Estonia summoned a Russian diplomat to protest after three Russian fighter aircraft entered its airspace without permission Friday and stayed there for 12 minutes, the Foreign Ministry said. It happened just over a week after NATO planes downed Russian drones over Poland and heightened fears that the war in Ukraine could spill over.
Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Russia violated Estonian airspace four times this year 鈥渂ut today鈥檚 incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen.鈥
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur also said the government had decided 鈥渢o start consultations among the allies鈥 he wrote on X, after Russian jets “violated our airspace yet again.鈥
The North Atlantic Council, NATO鈥檚 principal political decision-making body, is due to convene early next week to discuss the incident in more detail, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said Friday.
Article 4, the shortest of the NATO treaty鈥檚 14 articles, states that: 鈥淭he Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.鈥
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he will soon be briefed by aides on the reported incursion. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 love it,鈥 he said, adding, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like when that happens. It could be big trouble, but I鈥檒l let you know later.鈥
Russian officials did not immediately comment.
European governments rattled
Russia鈥檚 violation of Poland鈥檚 airspace was the into a NATO member country since the war in Ukraine began with Russia鈥檚 all-out invasion in February 2022. Other alliance countries have reported similar incursions and drone crashes on their territory.
The developments have increasingly rattled European governments as U.S.-led efforts to stop the war in Ukraine .
The European Union鈥檚 foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called Friday’s incursion 鈥渁n extremely dangerous provocation鈥 that 鈥渇urther escalates tensions in the region.鈥
鈥淥n our side, we see that we must show no weakness because weakness is something that invites Russia to do more,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey are increasingly more dangerous 鈥 not only to Ukraine, but also to all the countries around Russia.鈥
Estonia, along with fellow Baltic states Lithuania and Latvia and neighboring Poland, are staunch supporters of Ukraine.
Italian F-35 fighter jets respond to Russian incursion
The Russian MIG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace in the area of Vaindloo Island, a small island located in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, the Estonian military said in a separate statement.
The aircraft did not have flight plans and their transponders were turned off, the statement said, nor were the aircraft in two-way radio communication with Estonian air traffic services.
Italian Air Force F-35 fighter jets, currently deployed as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission, responded to the incident, according to the statement.
In a post on social media, Hart described the incident as 鈥渁nother example of reckless Russian behavior and NATO鈥檚 ability to respond.鈥
NATO fighter jets scramble hundreds of times most years to intercept aircraft, many of them Russian warplanes in northwest Europe flying too close to the airspace of its member countries, but it鈥檚 rarer for planes to cross the boundary.
Dozens of NATO jets are on round-the-clock alert across Europe to respond to incidents such as unannounced military flights or civilian planes losing communication with air traffic controllers.
Separately, Maj. Taavi Karotamm, spokesperson for the Estonian Defense Forces, told The Associated Press the Russian planes flew parallel to the Estonian border from east to west and did not head toward the capital, Tallinn.
Karotamm said the reason for the border violation is unknown, but added that it may have been to 鈥渟hift the focus of NATO and its members on to defending itself, rather than bolstering Ukrainian defense.鈥
鈥淩ussia鈥檚 increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure,鈥 Tsakhna, the foreign minister, said.
The Russian charge d鈥檃ffaires was summoned and given a protest note, a ministry statement said.
British spy chief says 鈥榥o evidence鈥 Putin wants peace
Earlier Friday, the head of Britain鈥檚 foreign intelligence agency said there is 鈥渁bsolutely no evidence鈥 that Russia鈥檚 wants to negotiate peace in Ukraine.
, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6 as it is more commonly known, said Putin was 鈥渟tringing us along.鈥
鈥淗e seeks to impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal. But he cannot succeed,” Moore said. “Bluntly, Putin has bitten off more than he can chew. He thought he was going to win an easy victory. But he 鈥 and many others 鈥 underestimated the Ukrainians.鈥
has continued unabated in the three years since Russia invaded its neighbor. Ukraine has accepted proposals for a ceasefire and a summit meeting, but Moscow has demurred.
Trump said Thursday during a state visit to the United Kingdom that Putin 鈥 鈥 in peace efforts.
Putin is 鈥榤ortgaging the future’ of Russia
Moore at the British consulate in Istanbul after five years as head of MI6. He leaves the post at the end of September. The agency will then get
Moore said the invasion had strengthened Ukrainian national identity and accelerated its westward trajectory, as well as pushing Sweden and Finland to join NATO.
鈥淧utin has sought to convince the world that Russian victory is inevitable. But he lies. He lies to the world. He lies to his people. Perhaps he even lies to himself,鈥 Moore told a news conference.
He said that Putin was 鈥渕ortgaging his country鈥檚 future for his own personal legacy and a distorted version of history鈥 and the war was 鈥渁ccelerating this decline.鈥
Analysts say Putin believes he can outlast the political commitment of Ukraine鈥檚 Western partners and win a protracted war of attrition by wearing down Ukraine鈥檚 smaller army with sheer weight of numbers.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is racing to with other countries and secure billions of dollars of investment in its domestic weapons industry.
MI6 unveils dark web portal
The spy chief was speaking as MI6 unveiled a dark web portal to allow potential intelligence providers to contact the service. Dubbed 鈥 ,鈥 the secure messaging platform aims to recruit new spies for the U.K., including in Russia.
鈥淭o those men and women in Russia who have truths to share and the courage to share them, I invite you to contact MI6,鈥 Moore said.
Not just Russians but 鈥渁nyone, anywhere in the world鈥 would be able to use the portal to offer sensitive information on terrorism or 鈥渉ostile intelligence activity,” he said.
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AP European security correspondent Emma Burrows in Vilnius, Lithuania and Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed.
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Follow AP鈥檚 coverage of the war in Ukraine at
