European diplomats told the Kremlin that NATO is prepared to shoot down Russian planes that enter its airspace, in a sharp escalation of Russia-EU tensions.
Eastern members of the alliance, including Estonia, Poland, and Romania, recently reported incursions into their airspace, while drones that disrupted Danish airports are suspected of being linked to Russia. In a meeting in Moscow, British, French, and German envoys reportedly said that further encroachments would be met with “full force,” while Russian officials said the moves were a response to Ukrainian attacks on Crimea.
The Kremlin said those attacks would not have been possible without NATO support, and as a result Russia already considers itself engaged in a confrontation with the alliance, Bloomberg reported.