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NATO, EU allies rally to Estonia after 'sabotage' blamed on Russia / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
NATO, EU allies rally to Estonia after 'sabotage' blamed on Russia
EU and NATO leaders on Tuesday rallied in support of Estonia and Ukraine after Tallinn accused Russia of "sabotage" in an August arson attack on a drone manufacturer, a claim the Kremlin immediately rejected.
"Russia continues its reckless campaign of hostile actions against NATO allies. It is trying to weaken our resolve and stop our support for Ukraine," NATO chief Mark Rutte said.
He added: "But Russia is failing. It is failing on the battlefield in Ukraine and it is failing to undermine our unity and support for Ukraine."
Estonia's foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, said an investigation into the August 15 arson attack against the defence company Milrem Robotics, which makes ground drones used in Ukraine, determined that Moscow was responsible.
"We can conclude with certainty that the arson attack... was an act of sabotage ordered by the special services of the Russian Federation," he said on X.
He said the perpetrators had been arrested, and Russia's ambassador had been summoned.
Tsahkna said that "this act of sabotage is part of Russia's broader campaign across Europe, aimed at intimidating us and weakening our support for Ukraine".
- Kremlin denial -
The Kremlin swiftly dismissed Estonia's accusation as "baseless" and with "absolutely no relation to reality".
"We cannot and will not take such statements seriously," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow in response to an AFP question.
Estonia has repeatedly accused Russia of hybrid provocations since the beginning of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Along with its neighbours, Latvia and Lithuania, the country has ramped up defence investment and remains a staunch ally of Kyiv.
The European Union said it stood with Estonia calling the arson attack "reckless", and would not be put off supporting Ukraine.
"Moscow is trying to scare Europe into winding down its support for Ukraine. This will not happen," European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand said.
French President Emmanuel Macron also called the arson attack a "dangerous escalation" by Russia, and another in a "multiplication of these hostile acts".
"Russia needs to know that it will not overcome our unity or our determination to continue supporting Ukraine," Macron said on X.
"Russia's fingerprints are all over" the Estonia attack, Lithuanian foreign minister Kestutis Budrys wrote on X, adding that Moscow's "hostile activities do not stop at Ukraine's borders".
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics added that "more support for Ukraine ... will be needed and must be provided".
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the attribution of the attack "extremely serious" and "directed against Europe as a whole".
L. Andersson--BTZ
