Two Spanish fighter jets were scrambled during NATO air policing missions after Russian planes violated Lithuanian airspace.
The Lithuanian armed forces said that at about 6 p.m. local time on Thursday, two Russian aircraft — an SU-30 and an IL-78 — flew about 765 meters into Lithuanian airspace, The Associated Press reported. The plane is said to have flown away after about 18 seconds.
“Tonight, Russian military aircraft violated Lithuanian airspace. This is a blatant violation of international law and the territorial integrity of Lithuania. It reaffirms the importance of strengthening European air defense preparedness,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X.
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Lithuania accused Russia of violating its airspace, leading to the scramble of two planes on a NATO mission. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images; Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via Reuters)
Nausėda announced that the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry would summon representatives of the Russian embassy in Vilnius “to protest against reckless and dangerous behavior.” The ministry later confirmed on X that the Russian charge d’affaires had been summoned in protest against the violation of airspace.
“Russia must stop its aggressive behavior and respect international law and the borders of neighboring countries,” the ministry said in a message on X.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied Lithuania’s claim, saying SU-30 fighter jets conducted training flights over the Kaliningrad region in strict accordance with rules, the AP reported.
“The aircraft did not deviate from their flight path or violate the borders of other states, as confirmed by objective monitoring means,” the ministry said, according to the AP.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on December 19, 2024. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)
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According to the AP, the Baltic countries are on heightened alert due to Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine. The newspaper added that the recent airspace incursions have fueled fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin could test NATO, although Moscow has denied this.
Poland, Denmark and Romania, all NATO member states, have reported airspace violations by Russian drones in recent months. In August, Romania was forced to deploy F-16 jets after Russia carried out an attack just 800 meters from its territory, when US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin ahead of the Kremlin leader’s Alaska summit with President Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, Trump canceled a meeting with Putin that was scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary. While the White House has not ruled out the possibility of a future summit, Trump has criticized Putin for his lack of action to broker peace with Ukraine.
President Donald Trump has canceled a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. (Getty Images)
Trump “feels that, unfortunately, he has not seen enough interest from the Russian side lately in sufficient action in terms of moving the ball toward peace,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday.
“And so a meeting between these two leaders is not completely off the table. I think the president and the entire administration hope that that can happen again someday, but we want to make sure that there is a tangible positive outcome from that meeting, and that it is a good use of the president’s time,” she added.
While sitting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that the meeting had been canceled and that “it didn’t feel right” for him.
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“It just didn’t feel right to me,” Trump said Wednesday. “It didn’t feel like we were going to get to where we needed to go, so I canceled it, but we will do it in the future.”
Since the cancellation of the summit in Hungary, no plans for a future meeting have been announced.
