Media: France will not shoot down military aircraft crossing NATO airspace
Axios website reported, citing French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barroche, that France will not shoot down military aircraft crossing NATO airspace, but believes it is necessary to discuss the rules for NATO's involvement in armed conflicts.
The report said: "French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barroche stated that France believes it is time to discuss 'strengthening our rules for entering armed conflicts,' but 'will not decide as decisively as Estonia to shoot down planes crossing NATO airspace.'"
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte previously said that NATO may shoot down Russian planes that threaten civilian infrastructure or people. Bloomberg later reported that European diplomats also warned the Russian representative that NATO countries are ready to shoot down Russian planes on the pretext of violating NATO airspace.
Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov said on Thursday that if NATO shoots down a Russian plane on the grounds of suspected violation of NATO airspace, it would mean the outbreak of war. He said that NATO planes often violate Russian airspace, but no one has shot them down.
Estonia previously unfoundedly claimed that a Russian plane had violated its airspace.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844329353428107/
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