Finland Summons Russian Envoy Over GPS Glitches During NATO Drills - Reports

Previously, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila stated that the several instances in which pilots reported losing GPS signals during the Trident Juncture exercises had been investigated as possible jamming by Russia.

The Finnish Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador to discuss GPS glitches during the NATO two-week Trident Juncture drills, allegedly caused by Russia's jamming, STT news agency reported.

"Foreign Minister Soini announced the invitation to the Foreign Ministry of Russian ambassador Pavel Kuznetsov on Monday morning because of the GPS scandal," the statement quoted by the media says.

The Russian embassy in Helsinki confirmed that Ambassador Pavel Kuznetsov had been summoned by the Finnish Foreign Ministry.

"The Russian embassy in Finland confirms that an invitation to visit the Finnish Foreign Ministry was handed over to ambassador Kuznetsov today. The meeting will be held on Monday," the embassy wrote on Twitter late on Friday.

READ MORE: NATO Calls GPS Jamming 'Dangerous, Disruptive', Joins Norway in Accusing Russia

Earlier in the day, Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini vowed to present a report on the alleged Russian involvement in GPS glitches, addressing the parliament's foreign affairs committee.

"The foreign affairs committee will receive additional information on how the Foreign Ministry will be interacting with Russia [on the issue] when Foreign Minister Timo Soini addresses the committee next Thursday. Soini said that the issue is being discussed through diplomatic channels. I think this is the right way. It is important to show that we believe this is inappropriate, and it should not happen in the future," Matti Vanhanen, the head of parliament's foreign affairs committee stated in an interview with the Yle broadcaster.

The move came on Thursday after the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced that Russia was to blame for the interference with GPS operations during NATO exercises. At the same time, Finnish Interior Minister Kai Mükkanen, in an interview with Sputnik noted that this case would not have any further impact on the cooperation between Russia and Finland, expressing hope that such negative situations will not become common practice in the region.

On the same day, the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced that it was discussing the issue with Moscow through diplomatic channels.

READ MORE: Finland Discusses With Russia GPS Glitches at NATO Drills — Foreign Ministry

Commenting on the claims on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no knowledge of the country's alleged role in the glitches, noting that "there is an obvious trend to blame Russia for everything," often without providing any proof.