dpa — Sept 20, 2015
The British version of the Eurofighter, an RAF Typhoon (bottom left) intercepts Russian jets over the Baltic
A member of the German air force Sunday stressed that the deployment of Eurofighter planes to Baltic airspace to monitor the situation in Ukraine would not escalate the ongoing crisis.
“This is not a means toward escalation,” Karl Mueller, an inspector for the German air force, told dpa, adding that the measures are intended to meet the Russian military “at eye level.”
This is the first time that Germany has begun policing airspace over the Baltic states since the conflict started in eastern Ukraine in April 2014. The first German planes were sent on August 31.
NATO stepped up its air force operations in the area following the annexation of Crimea, leaving many neighbouring countries feeling threatened by Russia‘s territorial ambitions.
According to statistics collected by dpa, fighter jets were deployed 365 times between January 2014 and June this year to identify and accompany Russian planes.
#Pentagon deploys drones to Latvia to maintain 'security & stability' http://t.co/PMX3ibvruQ pic.twitter.com/iOy9U4twxj
— RT (@RT_com) September 1, 2015