UNITED NATIONS, September 22. /TASS/. Calls by some NATO countries to react more aggressively to airspace violations trigger further escalation, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told a TASS correspondent on the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly.
"Well, we are absolutely concerned about those events which come forward with the possible risk of further escalation of this war. From the very beginning, three and a half years ago, we made it very clear that the worst thing would be if a direct confrontation takes place between NATO and Russia. And if there's a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, that equals the very severe risk of the launch of World War III. And this is something that we don't want," the top Hungarian diplomat said.
On September 20, Czech President Petr Pavel urged to respond more aggressively to violations of NATO countries’ airspace. This call came a day after Estonia’s authorities claimed that three Russian MiG-31 fighter planes entered the country’s airspace on the morning of September 19.
Earlier, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said that the country’s authorities had requested consultations with NATO members in accordance with Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty regarding the alleged airspace violation. Prior to that, the Estonian authorities claimed that, on the morning of September 19, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated Estonian airspace.
In turn, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that Russian MiG-31 fighter jets did not breach Estonian airspace. According to the ministry, the jets carried out a scheduled flight from Karelia to the Kaliningrad Region. In a statement, the ministry said the flight was conducted in strict accordance with international airspace rules, without crossing the borders of other states, which is confirmed by objective monitoring. During the flight, the Russian aircraft did not deviate from the agreed route and did not violate Estonian airspace, the ministry emphasized.