President Donald Trump said Tuesday that NATO members should shoot down Russian aircraft that enter their territories, after those countries scrambled jets in response to Russian drones entering their airspace in recent weeks.
Later in his remarks, Trump said that there could be a possibility that the United States would join in efforts to take down Russian aircraft that violate those countries’ airspace.
“Depends on the circumstance,” he said. “But you know, we’re very strong toward NATO.”
When asked by a reporter about a drone incursion that occurred in Denmark that stopped flights at the Copenhagen airport on Monday, Trump said that he had heard about the incident. However, he stressed that he currently has “no response” until he finds out “exactly what happened.”
Suspicions of Russian involvement were unfounded, Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, said in a statement.
“The incident in the sky above Copenhagen Airport reveals a clear desire to provoke NATO countries into a direct military confrontation with Russia,” he said.
“Russia has already violated Estonia’s airspace four times this year, which in itself is unacceptable. But today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen,” Estonian Foreign Minister Tsahkna said in a statement. “Russia’s increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure.”
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia did not violate Estonia’s airspace and said there was no evidence to back up the country’s assertions.
Polish officials earlier this month accused Russia of flying drones into its territory.
Also on Tuesday, Trump urged European nations to adopt the same set of economic measures he is proposing against Russia to force an end to the war in Ukraine. He also mocked NATO allies for not shutting down purchases of Russian oil and said he would impose strong economic measures against Moscow if they did the same.
“They’re funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one? In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs,” he said during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City.
“But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations, all of you are gathered here right now, would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures.”
Trump did not name the countries.
When speaking alongside Ukraine, Trump praised the Ukrainian military for being able to stymie the Russian army over three and a half years “of very hard fighting.”
“It looks like it’s not going to end for a long time,” he said.
