Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said Russia was testing NATO’s readiness to retaliate with its series of incursions along the eastern flank of the alliance.
Three armed Russian fighter jets entered Estonian airspace for 12 minutes last week, in what the government in Tallinn called part of a broader Moscow campaign to test how firmly NATO is prepared to respond to territorial threats. That followed two other incursions earlier this month, into Poland and Romania.
“Russia is testing us, testing our preparedness, testing our commitment to retaliate,” Nauseda said at a Baltic American Chamber of Commerce event in New York on Monday. “It’s very important to show solidarity.”