Russian ambassador warns NATO: Shooting down our planes would trigger war
Photo: Alexey Meshkov, Russian Ambassador to France (Getty Images)
If any NATO country shoots down a Russian plane, it would mean the start of a military conflict, said Russia’s ambassador to France, Alexey Meshkov, in an interview with RTL.
"This will be war," Meshkov said in response to a question about Moscow’s reaction if a Russian plane were attacked.
He also claimed that Russian aircraft regularly face "provocative actions by NATO aviation," but Russia avoids escalation and does not take forceful measures.
"Many NATO planes violate Russian airspace quite often, but they are not shot down," the ambassador said.
Meshkov dismissed accusations that Russian drones and aircraft had recently entered European airspace.
"Russia does not do this, we don’t play around with anyone. It’s not really our style," he said.
Russian provocations
Earlier, on September 21, NATO scrambled fighter jets due to a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea. Two days prior, on September 19, Russian MiG-31 fighters violated Estonian airspace for 12 minutes.
In response, Estonia’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian chargé d’affaires to express a protest, and the government consulted NATO allies under Article 4. Russia denies any violations.
Additionally, Norway reported that Russia violated its airspace three times this year, with each incursion lasting one to four minutes.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that NATO countries intend to shoot down only Russian aircraft that attack their territory.
