Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax that Russian incursions into NATO territory have the world on an “escalatory path.”
Holt told “American Agenda” on Monday that Russian flights over Estonia and Poland are exceedingly dangerous. “The worry here is that we’re on an escalatory path, and the closer and closer that these air forces get to each other, it’s just going to take one miscalculation, and we could be off to a very dark and bad place.”
He explained the issue isn’t as much the specific incidents but the broader intent behind them. “The worry here is not that three circa 1974 Russian aircraft may have had an incursion into Estonian airspace. The NATO air policing mission is quite competent and quite ready, and if it’s a probing thing, fine.”
Russian jets briefly violated NATO airspace on Friday, prompting a swift scramble of alliance fighters. Radar tracked the warplanes crossing into Estonian skies, an intrusion that lasted 12 minutes before the Russian aircraft turned back.
Separately, Poland reported a wave of more than 20 Russian drones entering its territory earlier in September, underscoring the scale of recent provocations.
NATO officials called the actions reckless and destabilizing.
Holt said with the backdrop of high-level NATO leaders meeting in New York, the Trump administration is working to counter the Russian moves with diplomacy. “So hopefully, cooler heads will prevail. Air policing will continue. And hopefully, Russia will also responsibly pull back its air forces while we get this all sorted out.”
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