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Estonia summons Russian envoy as gas tensions mount
Summary
A look back at 21 June 2022, when an airspace incident and a pipeline dispute shaped Europe's relations with Russia.
What did Europe's northeastern edge look like on 21 June 2022? Two separate episodes pointed to strained relations with Moscow, one in the air and one in the pipelines.
On that date, Estonia reported that a Russian Border Service Mi-8 helicopter had violated its airspace over the preceding weekend. Tallinn responded by summoning the Russian ambassador to Estonia.
The gas backdrop
A few days earlier, on 16 June 2022, European benchmark natural gas prices rose by around 30%. The jump followed a decision by Gazprom to cut Nord Stream 1 deliveries to Germany to 40% of the pipeline's capacity.
Russia blamed maintenance problems. It said Canada had refused to return equipment sent for repair, and it warned that use of the pipeline could be suspended completely.
The two reports were unrelated in their details, but both formed part of the picture on 21 June 2022: a diplomatic protest over an airspace violation, and an energy dispute in which Russia was reducing supplies to Germany while pointing to equipment as the cause.
