Russian Ambassador to France Alexei Meshkov warned on Thursday that if NATO shoots down its aircraft, “it would mean war,” referring to US President Donald Trump’s suggestion.

NATO aircraft violate Russian airspace, according to the ambassador

Aleksey Meshkov Russian ambassador to france nato aircraft
Aleksey Meshkov, Russian Ambassador to France. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

“You know, there are many NATO aircraft that violate Russian airspace … it happens quite often … [but] they are not shot down,” Meshkov told RTL Radio.

Earlier, Trump, in a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said NATO should shoot down Russian jets if they enter the skies of member countries.

He said it cannot be proved that they were involved in the drone attacks

“Firstly, we’re not playing games with anyone. Secondly, after the West has deceived us so many times, we only believe in facts,” Meshkov said, referring to accusations of suspected Russian airspace violations of Estonian, Romanian, and Polish airspace in recent days, writes Anadolu Agency.

The ambassador stressed the EU countries have provided “nothing tangible” to probe their involvement in the alleged drone violations in Europe. He said Russia’s response to the allegations was categorical: “We deny it.”