HELSINKI, November 19. /TASS/. Helsinki has provided no evidence proving that the jamming source which caused a GPS failure during NATO’s Trident Juncture exercise was located in Russia, the Russian embassy in Finland said in a Monday statement following a meeting between Russian Ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov and the Finnish Foreign Ministry’s Permanent State Secretary Matti Anttonen.
According to the statement, the ambassador "stressed that aviation safety was as important for Russia as it was for Finland." He also pointed out that "we received no information proving that the jamming source was located in Russia. In this regard, we believe that a thorough expert dialogue, involving the relevant agencies from the countries of the region, is necessary for the consideration of such situations," the embassy said.
"Finland agreed it was reasonable to study the possibility of enhancing the efficiency of inter-agency information exchange concerning the navigation situation in connection to civil flights and take timely steps in response to its possible changes," the statement added.
Finland’s Foreign Ministry earlier expressed its concern about the so-called "GPS-disruption" to the Russian ambassador and said it expected "additional information and responsible behavior from Russia." On Friday, Norway’s Foreign Ministry also discussed the issue with the Russian embassy.
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said on November 13 that Russia had disturbed GPS signals during NATO’s war games. "Between October 16 and November 7, the jamming of GPS signals was recorded," it added, blaming Russian forces on the Kola Peninsula for the disturbance. The Finnish Foreign Ministry said on November 15 that Russia had been responsible for GPS jamming.
Earlier, Finland’s Prime Minister Juha Sipila had not written off Moscow as being potentially behind the ‘GPS disruption’. However, the country’s President Sauli Niinisto believes it is important to carry out an investigation first. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously said that Moscow had information neither about GPS failures during NATO’s military drills whatsoever, nor about Russia’s possible involvement.