President Donald Trump indicated on Tuesday that he believes NATO members should shoot down any Russian military aircraft that violates the airspace of member nations amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
During a Tuesday meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in New York City with Trump for the United Nations General Assembly meeting this week, the president was asked, “Do you think that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?”
In response, Trump said, “Yes, I do.”
The president’s comments come after the North Atlantic Council held a meeting on Tuesday morning to “consult and strongly condemn Russia’s dangerous violation of Estonian airspace” last Friday.
Following Tuesday’s meeting, NATO released a statement, saying, “Russia should be in no doubt: NATO and Allies will employ, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military tools to defend ourselves and deter all threats from all directions. We will continue to respond in the manner, timing, and domain of our choosing. Our commitment to Article 5 is ironclad.”
NATO explained that three armed Russian MiG-31 aircraft violated the airspace of Estonia last Friday for more than 10 minutes and that NATO aircraft intercepted the Russian jets and escorted them out of Estonia’s airspace. NATO noted that Russian drones recently violated Poland’s airspace and that Russia also recently violated the airspace of Norway, Romania, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania.
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According to CNN, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters on Tuesday that NATO’s decision regarding whether to shoot down Russian aircraft in the event of future airspace violations would be based on “available intelligence regarding the threat posed by the aircraft, including questions we have to answer like intent, armaments and potential risk to allies, forces, civilians or infrastructure.”
Rutte added, “We will always assess the situation, assess the immediate threat the plane poses.”
On Monday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned Russia that Poland would shoot down enemy aircraft in the event of future airspace violations.
“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,” Tusk stated. “There is no room for debate here.”
