MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Friday it did not want to talk about a Bloomberg report that European diplomats had privately warned Moscow that NATO would be ready to shoot down any Russian aircraft violating European airspace.
Bloomberg reported, citing officials familiar with the exchange, that British, French and German envoys had delivered the warning at a meeting in Moscow.
Asked how Russia would respond if NATO shot down a Russian plane, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “You know, I don’t even want to talk about this; it’s a very irresponsible statement.”
He added: “It’s very irresponsible because accusations against Russia that its military aircraft violated someone’s airspace and intruded into someone’s skies are groundless. No convincing evidence has been presented.”
NATO says three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated Estonian airspace on September 19 and stayed there for 12 minutes before they were forced to withdraw.
NATO countries, dismissing Russia’s denials, have accused Moscow of reckless and provocative behaviour.
The Estonian incident came nine days after Poland shot down Russian drones that had violated its airspace. Britain said this week that the Russian incursions raised the risk of a direct armed confrontation with NATO.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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