Multiple incidents involving NATO forces responding to what European powers said was Russian aggression drove calls for the military alliance to more actively hit back at Moscow. NATO forces shot down a drone over Lithuania, Warsaw scrambled jets over Russian aerial attacks near Poland’s border with Ukraine, and Denmark said a Russian warship fired flares at a military helicopter in the Baltic Sea — part of what experts describe as the Kremlin’s “gray zone” tactics to blur the line between an uneasy peace and active conflict.
Poland’s foreign minister has advocated NATO take more steps against Russia, while a former US ambassador to the bloc said simply, “NATO needs to draw the line now.”