Russia engaged in ‘dangerous brinkmanship’ towards Nato

Russia is engaging in "dangerous brinkmanship" toward Nato and Nordic nations in its military moves with almost 40 incidents of incursions and close encounters since March, according to a European security group,

The European Leadership Network said the incidents presented a “highly disturbing picture” of violations of national airspace, emergency air-defence scrambles, narrowly avoided mid-air collisions, close encounters at sea and other dangerous actions on a regular basis over a wide area.

Perpetuating a volatile stand-off between a nuclear-armed state and a nuclear-armed alliance and its partners “is risky at best,” the group said in the report released today. “It could prove catastrophic at worst.”

The “increased number and gravity of incidents” involving Nato and Nordic nations suggests Russian forces have been “authorized and encouraged” to act more aggressively, the report concludes.

‘Triumphalism’ claim

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said over the weekend the US and its allies are to blame for tensions with Russia because they engaged in "triumphalism" after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some are even saying that it's already begun," Mr Gorbachev said at an event in Berlin marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, according to the Associated Press.

In addition to encounters that could be called routine or near-routine, the report identifies 11 “serious” incidents, and three others that carried a “high probability” of causing casualties or direct military confrontation.

Among these is a narrowly avoided collision on March 3rd, between a civilian SAS Group airliner taking off from Copenhagen and a Russian reconnaissance plane operating without its transponder, a device that identifies a plane.

Agencies