The Kremlin on Monday rejected Estonia’s accusation that Russian fighter jets violated its airspace last week, hours before the United Nations Security Council was set to meet on the incident at Tallinn’s request.

NATO said its aircraft intercepted three Russian MiG-31 fighters on Friday after they crossed into Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland. The Western military alliance and the EU called the incursion a dangerous provocation.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the incident was “part of a broader pattern of escalation by Russia, both regionally and globally,” adding that “this behavior requires an international response.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia’s military operates “strictly within the confines of international law, including those pertaining to flights.”

Peskov described Estonia’s version of events as “empty, unfounded and a continuation of the country’s utterly unstoppable policy of escalating tensions and provoking a confrontational atmosphere.”

The UN Security Council meeting, scheduled for Monday, marks the first time Estonia has requested an emergency meeting in its 34 years of UN membership.