US President Donald Trump has said NATO nations should shoot down Russian planes “violating their territory”, as he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of a UN summit.
“Yes, I do,” Trump said when a reporter asked if NATO countries should open fire if Russian aircraft enter their airspace.
His comments come after a series of recent alleged incursions by Russian fighter jets and drones that have rattled Washington’s NATO allies in Europe.
The US president, meanwhile, deflected questions about whether he believed Russian leader Vladimir Putin was ready to make peace despite recent Russian escalations.
“I’ll let you know in about a month from now, okay?” Trump said when asked if he still trusted Putin, whom he met at a high-profile summit in Alaska in August.
Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his “personal efforts to stop this war” and echoed the US leader’s call for European countries to stop buying Russian oil.
Airspace violations
Tensions between Russia and Europe over Ukraine have escalated with the recent spate of aerial violations.
NATO scrambled jets after three Russian MiG-31 fighters on Friday breached Estonian airspace for some 12 minutes, prompting Estonia to call for a meeting of the UN Security Council and talks with NATO allies.
Poland said earlier this month that Russian drones had repeatedly violated its airspace during an attack on Ukraine, calling the incidents an “act of aggression”.
Trump has previously suggested the Polish drone violations could have been a mistake, but his latest remarks mark a significant hardening of his stance.
On Monday, Copenhagen’s Kastrup Airport was forced to close for hours after drone sightings.
Russia denied involvement, though Denmark’s prime minister said she could not rule out Russian responsibility.
“We hear unfounded accusations from there every time. Perhaps a party that takes a serious, responsible position shouldn’t make such unfounded accusations time and again,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
