Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov affirmed that Russia is a sovereign state and will not allow any violation of its airspace, responding to previous statements by NATO’s Secretary General.

Peskov’s remarks came in response to a question about Moscow’s reaction to attempts to target its aircraft, saying: “Well, what do you think? We are a sovereign state, how will we respond?”

He also warned that NATO’s hints about the possibility of shooting down Russian planes would have serious consequences.

Baseless Accusations

Peskov described Western accusations of Russian planes violating European airspace as “baseless and unfounded,” affirming Russia’s commitment to international rules in its aircraft operations.

He expressed his displeasure at calls to shoot down Russian fighters, considering them “completely irresponsible.”

This came in response to calls from NATO countries, notably statements by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said that “NATO countries can shoot down Russian planes if they violate their airspace.”

NATO countries recently accused Russia during an emergency session at the UN Security Council of violating the alliance’s airspace over Estonia and Poland, with some members calling for attacking Russian planes if they breach airspace.

Earlier, Estonia and NATO reported that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland and remained there for 12 minutes.

Italy, which has been monitoring Baltic airspace since August as part of NATO, along with Sweden and Finland, immediately scrambled fighter jets to intercept them.

Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on September 10 that “Russian drones posed a threat” and were shot down over his country.

The British government announced that its fighters conducted the first NATO air defense sortie over Poland as part of the alliance’s “Eastern Guard” mission, aimed at strengthening Western alliance defenses following a recent Russian drone incursion.

This comes in response to what the British government called the “most serious violation” of NATO airspace by Russian President Vladimir Putin since his illegal full-scale war in Ukraine began.