UN Security Council to meet over Russian air incursion

TALLINN: Estonia's foreign ministry said on Sunday that UN Security Council would hold an emergency meeting this week following the incursion of three Russian aircraft into its airspace. Three Russian MiG-31 fighters violated Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland on Friday, triggering complaints of a dangerous new provocation from the European Union and Nato but a denial from Moscow.
Italian F-35 fighters attached to Nato's air defence support mission in the Baltic states, along with Swedish and Finnish aircraft, were scrambled to intercept the Russian jets and warn them off. 'On September 22... the United Nations Security Council will convene an emergency meeting in response to Russia's brazen violation of Estonian airspace last Friday,' a statement from the Estonian ministry said.
It marks the first time in 34 years of Estonia's membership in the UN that the EU and Nato member nation — a staunch supporter of Ukraine — has officially requested an emergency Security Council meeting. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the violation is 'part of a broader pattern of escalation by Russia, both regionally and globally', following violations of Polish and Romanian airspace earlier this month. 'This behavior requires an international response,' Tsahkna said.
In a Nato surveillance plane some 10,000 metres above eastern Poland, air force officers from a half dozen countries scanned screens for any sign of Russian aircraft breaching the alliance's borders. The threat was laid bare on Friday when two Russian fighters violated Estonian airspace for 12 minutes, forcing Nato to scramble jets and sparking consternation across Europe. Now the skies appeared calmer — but the crew remained attentive.
'If there is any air threat to Nato we want to make sure we detect it as quickly as possible,' Lieutenant Colonel Mike Belizaire, a German officer, said. 'Our mission is to provide an early warning so it gives more time to the authorised commanders to decide how they choose to respond.'
The intrusion in Estonia was the latest in a spike of incidents that has ramped up fears that the war in Ukraine could spill over the alliance's frontier. Days earlier Nato jets had shot down Russian drones over Poland in a watershed first for the Western military alliance. In response Nato's top commander ordered a new mission, Eastern Sentry, to reinforce eastern flank defenes that have already been built up since the Kremlin's 2022 attack of Ukraine. Fighter jets from countries including France and Germany were rushed to Poland.
'We have been doing missions in Poland for a couple of years now to protect the Nato countries,' said the surveillance plane's Belgian lead pilot, Captain-Commandant Joel, giving only his first name according to his homeland's military regulations. 'But what happened in Poland reminds everybody actually, that something can happen and that is why we are here again today to, have a look of what's going on, to make sure that the Nato sky is protected.' The eight-hour flight from a base in Germany to circle over eastern Poland was the first made by one of Nato's 14 centrally-owned AWACS airborne early warning and control aircraft under the umbrella of Eastern Sentry.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would meet US counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week as Russia intensified deadly strikes across his country. Russia carried out one of its largest aerial attacks, firing 40 missiles and some 580 drones at Ukraine in a nightime barrage that killed at least three people and wounded dozens, Zelensky said.
A Ukrainian strike killed four people in Russia's southwestern Samara region, the local governor said, in one of the deadliest Ukrainian strikes since Russia launched its attack in 2022. Zelensky said he would discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia during the talks with Trump in New York. Ukraine has insisted on Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks. Russian President Vladimir Putin has however warned that any Western troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable and legitimate targets.
'We expect sanctions if there is no meeting between the leaders or, for example, no ceasefire,' Zelensky said in comments released by the Ukrainian presidency. 'We are ready for a meeting with Putin. I have spoken about this. Both bilateral and trilateral. He is not ready,' Zelensky added. — AFP