HELSINKI, May 22 (Reuters) – Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers condemned what they said were Russian threats to attack Latvia and other Baltic states over a dispute about incursions into NATO airspace by Ukrainian drones.
The Baltic states, which are close allies of Kyiv and members of NATO, have reported repeated incursions in recent days by Ukrainian drones, as Ukraine steps up attacks on distant targets in Russia, including near the Baltic Sea.
The NATO countries and Kyiv say Russia is to blame for the drone incursions as a consequence of its war on Ukraine, and in some cases has steered Ukrainian drones across the border with electronic jamming. Moscow says Ukraine is using NATO airspace as cover for drone attacks on Russian targets, which Ukraine and the NATO countries deny.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday Moscow had information that Ukraine planned to launch military drones from Latvia and other Baltic states, and that membership in NATO would not protect those countries from retaliation.
In a joint statement on Friday, the foreign ministers of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden said they firmly rejected “Russia’s blatant disinformation campaign and false allegations, supported by Belarus, regarding airspace violations in the Nordic and Baltic region”.
They condemned what they said were Russian threats to use force against Latvia and other countries in the region, according to a statement published by the Estonian foreign ministry, which described the drone incursions as a direct consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia is trying to divert attention from its illegal war and intimidate NATO allies. This will not work and must end immediately,” the statement said.
Estonia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned the top Russian diplomat in the country to deliver a note regarding what it said was an ongoing disinformation campaign against Estonia and the other Baltic states.
The Russian embassy in Tallinn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Essi Lehto; Editing by Toby Chopra and Peter Graff)
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