Brussels: NATO warned Russia on Tuesday that it would defend itself using “all necessary military and non-military tools” as it condemned Moscow for violating Estonian airspace with “increasingly self-evident behavior.”
Days after the warning was issued, Estonia said three Russian MIG-31 jets violated the airspace for 12 minutes before NATO Italian fighter jets escorted them.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump called on NATO countries to shoot down any Russian jets that violated their airspace.
On his Truth Social Network, Trump also said that Ukraine, with the support of the EU, could win all its territory from Russia, and even won all its territory in a major hub after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The NATO warning follows a meeting of the North Atlantic Commission, consisting of ambassadors from the coalition’s 32 member states, following Estonia’s invocation of Article 4 of the NATO treaty.
Trump urges NATO to shoot down Russian jets to violate airspace
“Russia has escalated these actions and is likely to miscalculate and endanger life. They must stop,” the Council said in a statement.
“There is no doubt that Russia should be: NATO and its allies will employ all necessary military and non-military tools to defend themselves under international law and avoid all threats in all directions,” the statement said.
“We will continue to respond in the way, timing and area we choose.” Recent events prompted some European politicians and analysts to call on NATO to shoot down Russian combatants who invade the Union airspace. But German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned not to say that.
“The reckless request to shoot something or send a specific message of power in this case will not help. We need to remain calm, clear and cautious – and take appropriate action.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said at the Brussels coalition headquarters that Russian jets on Estonia were not shot down because they assessed the bones and did not pose a direct threat. But he said NATO commanders have the right to “make a final decision” if they assessed that the invasion of the aircraft does pose such a threat.
“Not a naive alliance”
Article 4 of NATO states that allies will “in the eyes of any one person, when will they consult the territorial integrity, political independence or security of their members together”. This is only the ninth time in NATO’s 76-year history, and the article has been cited, two of which were conducted this month in response to events in Poland and Estonia. “Yes, we’re a defensive league, but we’re not naive. So we see what’s going on,” Rutt said.
“If it wasn’t intentional, it’s blatant incompetent. Of course, even if it’s incompetent, we still have to defend ourselves.” Russia said on Monday that Estonia’s assertions that Russian jets violated Estonian airspace were unfounded and accused Tallinn of seeking to aggravate tensions in the West.
NATO also expressed its continued support for Ukraine to “exercise its inherent right to self-defense against Russia’s cruel and unreasonable war of aggression.”
Posted at Dawn on September 24, 2025
