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European allies have vowed to shoot down any Russian aircraft violating their airspace after Nato allies accused Moscow of repeated incursions into the alliance’s territory in recent weeks.
“If another missile or aircraft enters our space without permission, deliberately or by mistake, and gets shot down and the wreckage falls on Nato territory, please don’t come here to whine about it,” Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, told an emergency meeting of the UN security council in New York on Monday that was called to discuss Russian airspace incursion over Estonia.
His warning was echoed by Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, who told reporters earlier in the day: “I want to be very clear. We will make a decision to shoot down flying objects without discussion when they violate our territory and fly over Poland. There is no room for debate here.”
On Friday, Estonia reported that three Russian MiG-31 jets had crossed into its airspace for 12 minutes before being forced to withdraw. The incident followed the entry of 20 Russian drones into Polish skies earlier this month, which Nato fighters shot down, and a separate Russian drone incursion into Romania.
The breaches have rattled Europe, particularly countries bordering Russia, fuelling fears that Moscow is testing Nato’s defence commitments.
Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said: “Russia clearly feels it can act with impunity in Ukraine, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the whole of eastern Europe.”
“Russia’s neighbours, not unreasonably, fear they could be next,” he added.
Estonia, which called for the emergency meeting, told the security council that its record of the jets’ incursion was “based on hard facts, based on solid evidence, whatever Russia is claiming”.
Holding up a printout from the country’s air radar, Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, pointed to what he said was a clear “violation of Estonian territory and sovereignty”.
He also displayed closeup photographs of the Russian jets, stressing that they were “carrying missiles and were combat-ready”.
“The violation is crystal clear, and Russia is lying again, as it has lied before several times,” he said.
Russia has rejected Estonia’s claims and has said it lacks evidence.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, told reporters on Monday: “We never heard in the Estonian statement that they have objective monitoring data to back up their claim. That is why we consider such words to be empty, unfounded and a continuation of a completely reckless pattern of escalating tensions and provoking a confrontational atmosphere.”
But at the emergency UN session, the incursions drew widespread condemnation as reckless.
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“These latest acts are dangerous and reckless,” said the British foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper. “We stand ready to take all steps necessary to defend Nato skies and Nato’s territory … If we need to confront planes operating in Nato airspace without permission, we will.”
Some European allies have raised concerns that Donald Trump has failed to treat the incidents with sufficient seriousness, limiting himself to brief condemnations.
Mike Waltz, the new US ambassador to the UN, sought to reassure Nato allies at the meeting, saying: “The United States and our allies will defend every inch of Nato territory. Russia must urgently stop such dangerous behaviour.”
“Either Moscow wants to escalate and pull more countries into this conflict with Ukraine, or it doesn’t have full control of those who operate its fighter planes and drones. Either scenario is very disconcerting.” Waltz added.
In Moscow, Vladimir Putin appeared to continue his recent overtures to Washington amid growing frustrations from Trump with the Russian president over faltering efforts to end the Ukraine war, as well as stalled talks between the US and Russia on other bilateral issues.
“We want to avoid provoking a further strategic arms race,” Putin told his security council during a televised meeting.
But he coupled the conciliatory note with combative language, saying that Russia was “capable of responding to any threats with military-technical measures”.
