NATO on Thursday hailed the effectiveness of cooperation between its members in the protection of its airspace, citing the incident involving two Russian Su-24 aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea during a top-level meeting at a NATO base in Lithuania
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2021) NATO on Thursday hailed the effectiveness of cooperation between its members in the protection of its airspace, citing the incident involving two Russian Su-24 aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea during a top-level meeting at a NATO base in Lithuania.
Earlier in the day, a joint briefing of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at a NATO base in the northern Lithuanian city of Siauliai was disrupted by the NATO aircraft take-off.
"This morning (8 July 2021) two NATO Eurofighter jets took to the skies to identify two aircraft flying into the Baltic Sea. They identified two SU-24s heading northeast. Those two Russian jets did not file a flight plan, did not have their transponder turned on, or talk to air traffic controllers," NATO Spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.
She stressed that the incident demonstrated the importance of the alliance's air policing mission, adding that the incident demonstrated "the close coordination among NATO Allies."
Moscow maintained that its Baltic Fleet jets were performing "a scheduled training flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea" and did not enter any country's airspace.
