FLASH
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Two German Eurofighter jets scrambled on Sunday to intercept a Russian military plane over the Baltic Sea, while Estonia said it would call an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after Russian planes violated its airspace.
The German air force said the Russian Il-20M reconnaissance plane had turned off its transponders and ignored requests for contact. Eurofighters took off from Rostock-Laage air base to intercept the plane as it flew in international airspace.
Tensions between NATO and Russia have risen sharply after a series of actions that European governments call deliberate and provocative acts by the Kremlin. On Friday, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated Estonian airspace in the Gulf of Finland.
Moscow denies this.
Asked if the US was willing to defend EU countries from further Russian aggression, Donald Trump said on Sunday: "Yes, I would. I would."
Earlier, the US president said he "didn't like" Russia's air incursion, but said he had not been informed about it.
Estonia condemned the Kremlin's "shameless" behavior. It said it was calling an emergency meeting of the security council for the first time in Estonia's 34-year membership of the UN. World leaders are gathering in New York this week for the UN general assembly.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the violation was "part of a broader pattern of escalation by Russia, both regionally and globally." It included violations of Polish and Romanian airspace. "This behavior requires an international response," Tsahkna said.
Tallinn - a staunch supporter of Ukraine - has requested consultations under NATO's Article Four, which allows members to meet with allies if their security is threatened. Last week, Poland's Foreign Minister, Radek Sikorski, said Moscow was testing NATO's response with "gradual" hostile steps, short of a full-scale conflict.
His comments at a security conference in Kiev came after 19 Russian drones landed on Polish territory. Over the weekend, a man looking for mushrooms discovered debris from a rogue drone in a wooded area, about 1.5 km from the village of Sulmice, in Zamość county.
Late Sunday, the Russian defense ministry said a Ukrainian drone attack on a tourist area in Crimea killed two people and wounded 15 others.
According to Bloomberg, citing Kremlin sources, Vladimir Putin has concluded that the US is unlikely to do much to bolster Ukraine's defenses after his August summit with Donald Trump in Alaska. Russia intends to step up its attacks to force Kiev to capitulate, the agency reported.
Reports suggest that Washington is planning to reduce security assistance to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which share a border with Russia.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said the Russian actions were aimed at shifting the West's focus away from Ukraine. "This is exactly what Russia wants - to divert our attention from helping Ukraine and focus on our own backyard. This is the main goal," he said.
In a Facebook post, Latvian President Edgars Rinkėvičs said there was a risk of a "serious conflict" if Russia continued to provoke NATO in the coming weeks.
European governments did not want a wider war, but had no choice but to react, he said.
Rinkėvičs added: “Russia is doing as much as it can to make it look like it’s not going too far. But, knowing both the logic of thinking in Russia and the frequent incompetence at various levels, this [conflict] could happen. The responsibility will fall on the Kremlin.”
Czech President Petr Pavel called on NATO to respond decisively to Russian aggression and to stand united. "Unfortunately, this is balancing on the brink of conflict, but surrendering to evil is simply impossible," he said.
Meanwhile, Russia accused the United Kingdom on Sunday of being one of the leaders of what it called a “pro-war camp.” According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Western efforts to pressure Russia would not work or help efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking Friday before his trip to the UN, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to hold talks with Putin or meet him alongside Trump. Russia says that can only happen once the "root causes" of the war have been addressed - meaning after Ukraine surrenders.
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