Russian fighter jets violated Estonian airspace on Friday, which was no mistake, Ian Kelly, former U.S. ambassador to Georgia, told Newsmax on Monday.
"I think the violation of Polish airspace with 21 drones was a pretty serious … action in itself. The sending in piloted warplanes, though, is a much more serious event," Kelly said on "American Agenda."
"The fact that they turned off their transponders, did not communicate with authorities on the ground, and spent about 12 minutes in Estonian airspace, this was no mistake. This was a really a blatant attempt to show that NATO is not really ready to try to deter Russia," he added.
Russia said on Monday that the claim its jets violated Estonian airspace was false and designed to stir up tension.
The alleged incursion over Estonia came after more than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on the night of Sept. 9-10. Poland also said on Friday that two Russian fighter jets violated the safety zone of the Petrobaltic drilling platform.
Kelly said there "were some very strong words today in the [U.N.] Security Council from the U.K. foreign secretary and from [U.N. Ambassador] Mike Waltz, and I hope that that will stop these kinds of really, I think, unacceptable incursions."
A strong signal "needs to be sent to Moscow," he added.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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