There was no need to knock Russian Mig-31 over Estonia-NATO Secretary General (Video)

To spread: NATO does not always respond instantly to the violation of the airspace of the Alliance - the real threat is first assessed. Alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte assured that NATO will take all available measures to protect its allies if necessary. During the meeting on September 23, Mark Rutte discussed the situation in Ukraine and provocative actions of Russia, in particular cases of violation of the airspace of NATO member states, reports the News.

Live Channel, which broadcast the meeting. In the video, the Secretary General stressed that the Alliance will always act carefully, calmly and decisively, having all defense systems to ensure the safety of the territory of the Allies. "We will always respond calmly and decisively, because we have all the defensive systems to make sure that we can protect every centimeter of the territory of the Allies," NATO Secretary General.

According to Rutte, no direct threat was recorded during the last incident in violation of Estonia's aircraft. Because of this, there was no need to knock down. Secretary -General explained that NATO always works in proportion: the situation is evaluated on the basis of all available intelligence data and real -time analysis, and only in the case of real danger, the necessary defense measures are taken to protect cities, people and infrastructure.

Rutte stressed that NATO always responds within the rated threat and proportionally. "We provide protection for our cities, people and critical infrastructure, evaluating each incident according to available data. This does not mean that any offender will be shot down immediately-our actions are based on careful analysis and clear criteria," Secretary General. It is worth noting that the meeting was convened in connection with the incident when Russian planes disrupted the air space of Estonia.

In particular, the reason was that it initiated the consultations of the Alliance under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty, which provides for emergency discussions of the security situation. Recall that on September 19, three Russian Mig-31 fighters entered the airspace of Estonia and approached the capital of Tallinn, after which the Italian F-35 were raised for their interception.