NATO fighter jets successfully finished their missions in Estonia – three Russian planes were intercepted. According to NATO statement, the Russian military planes were flying near Estonian air space on Tuesday.
The Russian airplanes – two MiG-31 jets and one Antonov AN-26 transport aircraft – were identified by NATO commandment in Estonia. Two Spanish F-18 jets and one Finnish jet assigned to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission scrambled to intercept the foreign planes.
The current situation on the North West border of Russia is very tense, Russian never-ending preparations and military drills on the eastern edge of NATO territory recall just one thing – the most ominous days of the Cold War.
Zapad drills and NATO’s reaction
Russian Army has enough troops on its western border as well as in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Zapad military exercise is not a reaction to the new spin of the economic sanctions on Russia that the US Congress passed last week. The drills on the western border are part of a larger effort by Vladimir Putin to demonstrate Russia’s military prowess.
Vice President Mike Pence during his visit to Estonia express a hope ‘for better days, for better relations with Russia’, adding that Kremlin’s diplomatic actions will not deter the US commitment the security of NATO allies.
