EU is attempting to undermine Russia-US dialogue, says Russian deputy FM

MOSCOW - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin accused certain political forces in the European Union (EU) of attempting to derail dialogue between Moscow and Washington by leveling unfounded accusations against Russia, local media reported Wednesday.

In an interview with Russia's Izvestia newspaper, Galuzin said that what he described as a "war party" in the EU was seeking to undermine positive steps in US-Russia contacts, including the recent meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Alaska, which focused on a political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

"These forces ... are trying to disrupt this process and pull the United States to their side," Galuzin said. "They are resorting to unscrupulous methods such as baseless accusations against Russia of violating NATO countries' airspace or sending drones into their territory."

Galuzin stated that allegations of Russian airspace violations lack credible evidence.

His remarks followed recent statements by Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, who said Tallinn had requested consultations with NATO allies under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty after claiming that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace last Friday.

Russia's Defense Ministry denied the allegations, saying that the aircraft had conducted a planned flight from Karelia to the Kaliningrad region in full compliance with international airspace regulations. The ministry underlined that the jets did not deviate from their approved route and did not cross Estonia's borders, a fact confirmed by objective monitoring data.