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A Polish Air Force MiG-29 fighter takes off at the
Zokniai
air base near
(AFP Photo/Petras Malukas)
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Panevezys (Lithuania ) (AFP) --- Defence ministers for
the three Baltic states said Thursday they are mulling a joint air defence
system in response to security concerns over Russia 's activity in the region.
The ministers of NATO-members Estonia ,
Latvia and Lithuania met in the northern Lithuanian city of
Panevezys along with their Ukrainian
counterpart, at a time when their relations with Russia
are at a post-Soviet low over the Ukraine crisis.
"We plan to analyse the possibility of developing a
medium-range air defence system to strengthen our defence capabilities,"
Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas told reporters.
"External threats lead us to cooperate more," he
said, referring to neighbour and Soviet-era master Russia ,
which has spooked the region with its intervention in Ukraine .
NATO has been guarding the skies over the three small Baltic states since 2004, when they joined the defence
alliance but lacked the air power to monitor their own airspace.
Under Moscow 's thumb until
1991, the Baltic trio has been on high alert since Russia
annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine last year.
Pro-Russian separatists have since been battling Ukrainian
government forces for over a year in a conflict that has claimed nearly 6,300
lives and left well over a million people homeless.
"The situation remains complicated and absolutely
unpredictable," Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak told reporters.
He added that since the inking of a fragile February
ceasefire agreement 100 of their soldiers have died and 500 have been wounded.
"We consider there is a high risk of further escalation
of the situation."
The Baltics said earlier this month that they will formally
ask the NATO defence alliance to deploy several thousand permanent troops in
their region as a deterrent to Russia .
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