Russia and NATO said Wednesday that they are willing to consider implementing air safety measures over the Baltic Sea, which has seen some close encounters between Russian fighter jets and US military vessels, according to dpa. Russia signalled at ambassador-level talks at NATO on Wednesday that "it wants to pursue risk reduction measures," the secretary general of the alliance said. "This is something that [NATO] allies have been advocating for a long time," Jens Stoltenberg added. Russia has been asked for "more details," he said, noting that he looks forward to "further discussions on this issue." Stoltenberg said the measures would relate to the use of transponders. NATO has complained that Russian jets do not turn on their transponders, making them invisible to civilian radar. Russia's ambassador to NATO, Alexander Grushko, confirmed that his country is ready to discuss a plan with the Western military alliance for obligatory use of transponders in flights over the Baltic states, according to state news agency TASS. But disagreements between NATO and Russia still remain, Stoltenberg said, notably on the crisis in Ukraine.
