Moscow earlier called threats to target its aircraft very reckless and irresponsible

NATO will target Russian jets suspected of violating its airspace only if they are deemed a threat, Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said.

Tensions between Moscow and NATO spiked last month when Estonia called for NATO-wide consultations after claiming that three Russian MIG-31 fighters briefly breached its airspace.

Moscow said the planes were on a routine flight to the exclave of Kaliningrad over neutral waters. Poland and Sweden warned after the incident that they are prepared to shoot down Russian aircraft if the alleged violations continue. The Kremlin described the statements as "very reckless and irresponsible."

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Rutte claimed that the alleged Russian incursion into Estonian airspace was "not intentional, but it was anyway reckless." These actions are "unacceptable" and have "got to stop," he said.

Asked about the possibility of NATO attacking Russian aircraft, the secretary-general replied that "there was some misunderstanding in the last couple of weeks" regarding the issue.

"If necessary, NATO can take down these planes if they pose a threat. If they do not pose a threat, they will be intercepted and then gently guided outside [the bloc's airspace]," he explained.

NATO defense chiefs have been lobbying behind closed doors to expand the bloc's engagement guidelines to allow Russian jets carrying ground-attack missiles to be shot down, the Telegraph reported last week.

According to the outlet, the NATO supreme allied commander Europe, US General Alexus Grynkewich, has privately called for the creation of a "unified, single air and missile defense system" to deal with Russian planes. Individual NATO members currently have different rules for targeting aircraft over their territory.

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In late September, Russian Ambassador to France Aleksey Meshkov warned that if any NATO member state hits a Russian jet, it "would mean war." He noted that "quite a lot of [NATO military] planes accidentally or not accidentally violate our airspace. And no one shoots them down."

(RT.com)