Russian planes violate Lithuanian airspace as Putin hits back at ‘unfriendly’ sanctions

Vilnius: Russian military planes violated Lithuania’s airspace on Thursday evening, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said, as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin hit back at new US sanctions imposed on Russia’s two largest oil companies.

Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon jets from NATO Baltic Air Police were scrambled after two Russian aircraft crossed into Lithuanian territory and were patrolling the area, Lithuania’s military said.

The Russian aircraft – an Su-30 fighter and an Il-78 refuelling tanker – were possibly on a training mission when they flew 700 metres into Lithuania from the Kaliningrad region for 18 seconds about 1500 GMT (2am Friday AEDT), the military said.

Meanwhile, speaking in Moscow, Putin described the latest oil sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump as “an unfriendly act” and warned of an overwhelming response if Ukraine got the powerful missiles it was seeking from Washington.

Putin said the sanctions, announced on Thursday AEDT, would hurt Russia’s economy, but that Moscow would never make concessions under pressure. The US move has pushed global oil prices up 5 per cent.

“This is an unfriendly act toward Russia, and it doesn’t strengthen relations between Russia and the United States that only began to get restored,” Putin told reporters. “But no self-respecting country and no self-respecting people ever decide anything under pressure.”

Putin also described Ukraine’s efforts to acquire American Tomahawk cruise missiles that could strike deep into Russia as “an attempt at escalation”.

“If a strike is made on Russian territory with such a weapon, the response will be very serious, if not staggering,” he said. “Let them think about that.”

The US sanctions target oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, which together account for more than 5 per cent of global oil output, and mark a dramatic U-turn by Trump, who said only last week that he and Putin would soon meet in Budapest to try to end the war in Ukraine.

While the financial impact on Russia may be limited in the short term, the move is a powerful signal of Trump’s intent to squeeze Russia’s finances and force the Kremlin towards a peace deal in its 3½-year-old, full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Putin said he warned Trump that an attempt to curb Russian oil exports would destabilise global oil markets and backfire against the US. “A sharp reduction in the amounts of our oil and oil products sent to global markets will lead to price increases,” he said, adding that consumers at US petrol stations would feel the impact.

The sanctions don’t take effect until November 21, potentially giving Putin a chance for a change of heart.

That, said Chris Weafer, chief executive of consultancy Macro-Advisory Ltd, could provide a window “where they hope Russia will more seriously engage, and if it does, then those sanctions could be suspended”.

“You can be sure that every oil buyer in Asia today is trying to find anything that floats that they can buy Russian oil before that sanction kicks in,” Weafer told the Associated Press from London. “And therefore, Russia will sell a lot of oil in the next 30 days, which probably will help the budget for a few months.”

He also noted that, unlike European sanctions, the US measures carried the threat of secondary penalties against anyone violating them. China and India are major importers of Russian oil.

Ahead of the US announcement, the EU approved its 19th package of sanctions against Russia, including a ban on Russian LNG imports into Europe, going further than previous restrictions. The move was a response to Trump’s complaint that some NATO member states were still buying Russian oil and gas.

While most EU members have stopped buying Russian oil and gas, Slovakia and Hungary have continued to do so. Turkey, a NATO member but not an EU member, also buys Russian oil.

The effectiveness of economic sanctions in forcing Putin’s hand is questionable, analysts say. Russia’s economy has proved resilient so far, although it is showing signs of strain.

On Thursday, the White House suggested a Trump-Putin summit was not completely off the table.

“I think the president and the entire administration hopes that one day that can happen again but we want to make sure that there’s a tangible positive outcome out of that meeting”, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said at a news briefing.

Rising tensions

In Europe, Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said it would summon Russian embassy representatives to protest the airspace violation amid rising tensions in the region. The Baltics – formerly part of the Soviet Union – are increasingly concerned by neighbouring Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

“This incident once again shows that Russia is behaving like a terrorist state, disregarding international law and the security of neighbouring countries,” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said on Facebook.

“Lithuania is safe. Together with our allies, we look after and will defend every centimetre of our country”, she added.

In a statement, Russia’s Defence Ministry denied its aircraft had crossed into Lithuania.

“The flights took place in strict observance of the rules of using airspace over the territory of the Russian Federation, did not deviate from their flight route and did not violate the borders of other states, which was confirmed by objective control means,” the ministry said on Telegram.

Three Russian military jets violated neighbouring Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes on September 19. NATO scrambled fighters and escorted them out. Russia denied its planes entered Estonia and said Tallinn was seeking to ratchet up East-West tensions.

Nine days earlier, more than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace. NATO jets shot some of them down, the first time an alliance member had fired on Russian targets since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The US general serving as NATO’s top commander said earlier this week that Russia appeared to have been deterred by NATO’s firm response to the incursions into Polish and Estonian airspace, but Moscow is expected to continue testing boundaries.

On Wednesday, Russia staged a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in an apparent move by Putin to prove his forces were ready for nuclear war, a signal he has used in the past to try to ward off action from major powers.

A broadcast showed Putin sitting at a circular desk with six screens to monitor the launch of an intercontinental missile from northern Russia; at the same time, a submarine fired a missile from the Barents Sea.

Russia also sent Tupolev Tu-95 bombers into the air to fire cruise missiles, and in a statement, said it had tested its military command structure and the procedures for launching nuclear weapons.

Reuters, AP

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