By Corina Ruhe and James G. Neuger
The Russian su-27 fighter jet photographed next to a Swedish passenger plane.
Russia’s stepped-up fighter-jet maneuvers on the fringes of NATO airspace pose a threat to commercial air traffic, the alliance said.
“They’re not turning on the transponders, they are not filing their flight plans and they’re not communicating with civilian air traffic control,” North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in The Hague today. “That poses a risk on civilian air traffic.”
NATO warplanes have intercepted more than 100 Russian fighters over the Baltic Sea this year, more than three times last year’s total. Russia has coupled the midair missions with more military drills on its home territory amid tensions with the U.S. and European countries over Ukraine.
Su-27 fighter being intercepted by several NATO planes in June as part of NATO's ongoing mission to police Baltic airspace.
Stoltenberg declined to say whether Russian warplanes have been involved in near-misses with passenger jets. Speaking to lawmakers from NATO countries earlier today, he called on Russia to show more “transparency, more predictability” with its military exercises.
Air travelers became victims of the Ukraine crisis in July when a Malaysian Airline System Bhd. flight was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing 298 including more than 190 Dutch citizens. The U.S. and European governments blamed Ukrainian separatists using Russian anti-aircraft guns.
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