Estonia believes that Russia is responsible for incidents involving drones in the airspace of Baltic states, against the backdrop of successful Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s oil and gas sector.
This was stated by Estonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg.
“Over the past few weeks, we have seen more and more Ukrainian drones entering our territory, but Russia bears responsibility for this,” Tsahkna said.
He explained that this is happening because
“Russia is conducting an armed aggression against Ukraine, and Russia is directing these drones toward NATO territory.”
According to Tsahkna, recent drone incidents over the Baltic states show that NATO is functioning effectively, as Romanian fighter jets deployed for air patrol in the region shot down a drone over Estonia.
Addressing Russia’s disinformation campaign, in which the Kremlin falsely claims that Baltic states are allowing Ukraine to use their airspace to strike Russian territory, Tsahkna said:
“Russia is now using this opportunity to spread fake news, absolutely fake news. These are fake claims, because we do not allow this. But I want to assure you that Ukraine has full right to strike these targets deep inside Russia. So I think Ukraine will of course continue. Yes, they need to be more careful, but all responsibility in this regard lies with Russia,” the minister emphasized.
He noted that Vladimir Putin could stop the war at any moment, but “unfortunately, he is not changing his goals.”
At the same time, he pointed to the problems facing the Russian economy, stressing that oil and gas sales are what keep Russia afloat, which is why “Ukraine is striking this sector hard.”
This is why, Tsahkna argued, Russia is pushing its disinformation campaign, “trying to split Western unity and push all of us toward more pressure on Ukraine to stop these attacks.”
He therefore called instead for increasing pressure on Russia.
