After diplomatic blitz

21/9/2025 10:52

Pentagon officials sat down with a group of European diplomats in late August and delivered a stern message: The U.S. planned to cut off some security assistance to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, all NATO members bordering Russia.



More broadly, Pentagon official David Baker told the group, according to an official with direct knowledge of the comments, Europe needed to be less dependent on the U.S. Under President Donald Trump.



The U.S. military would be shifting its attention to other priorities, like defense of the homeland.



Some European diplomats fretted that the move, first reported earlier this month, could embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.



On Friday, they may have been proven right, Russian MiG-31 jets entered Estonian airspace for roughly 10 minutes, before being chased away by Italian F-35s.



Russia denied violating Estonian airspace, saying its jets flew over neutral waters.