NATO scrambled jets after three Russian MiG-31 fighters on Friday breached Estonian airspace for some 12 minutes, triggering complaints of a dangerous new provocation and a denial from Moscow.

Estonia, a NATO member, called for a meeting of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, “in response to Russia’s brazen violation of Estonian airspace”, and talks with other NATO allies.

“As we said nine days ago, the United States stands by our NATO Allies in the face of these airspace violations. And I want to take this first opportunity to repeat, and to emphasize, the United States and our Allies will defend every inch of NATO territory,” said US Ambassador Mike Waltz.

The incursion came after fellow NATO member Poland announced earlier this month Russian drones had repeatedly violated its airspace during an attack on Ukraine, in what Warsaw called an “act of aggression.”

US President Donald Trump on Sunday joined the condemnation of the latest airspace violation, vowing to defend Poland and the Baltic states in case of escalation from Russia.

Asked whether he would help defend the EU members if Russia intensifies hostilities, Trump told reporters: “Yeah, I would.”

Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin has blown hot and cold, with the Kremlin leader pressing his invasion of Ukraine and the US president urging peace but showing little concrete sign of pressuring Moscow.

Trump stated Thursday at the close of a state visit to Britain that Putin had “really let me down” by continuing the war, now in its fourth year.

“At a time when President Trump and the United States has been focused, and spent an enormous amount of time and effort to end this horrific war between Russia and Ukraine, we expect Russia to seek ways to de-escalate — not risk expansion,” Waltz added in his maiden speech to the Council.

Western powers have warned that Russia is playing with fire with its repeated ventures into NATO airspace, whose members have a mutual defense assistance pact.

In the incident in Estonian airspace, Italian F-35 fighters attached to NATO’s air defense support mission in the Baltic states, along with Swedish and Finnish aircraft, were scrambled to intercept the Russian jets and warn them off.

Moscow has long characterized the conflict as a proxy war led by the US-led military bloc against Russia using Ukrainian manpower.

Speaking to the Russian news agency on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Szijjarto suggested peace in Ukraine as a way to prevent a dangerous escalation between Russia and NATO.

“If there is peace, if this [Ukraine] war ends, then we can reduce the risk of escalation to zero. But as long as this war continues, I fear that events will occur that carry the risk of escalation, and that is truly bad news,” he said.

Earlier this month, the top diplomat stated that Ukraine and the EU were attempting to “drag” Hungary into the conflict. Despite pressure from Brussels, Budapest has resisted providing military support to Kiev and opposed the bloc’s sanctions against Russia, instead calling for a diplomatic solution.

In recent weeks, EU and NATO members Poland and Estonia have both accused Russia of violating their airspace – claims Moscow has denied as baseless.

In response to Russian drones allegedly crossing into Polish territory earlier this month, NATO launched its Eastern Sentry operation to increase the US-led military bloc’s presence near its eastward flank.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that the drone allegations were fabricated for the purpose of derailing the Ukraine peace talks. Russia has long accused European NATO members of working to prolong and escalate the conflict.

According to Moscow, the US-led military bloc is already “de facto” fighting a war against Russia.

“NATO provides both indirect and direct support to the Kiev regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed last week. Despite this, Moscow remains “ready and willing” to work towards diplomatically settling the Ukraine crisis, he added.

In an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation aired on Sunday, Macron was asked about what the West was planning to do with the $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets which were frozen after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

“We are all very much attached to being compliant with international rules. You cannot seize these assets from the central bank, even in such a situation,” the French leader said, describing it as “a matter of credibility.”

“When some countries start to disrespect international laws… this is the beginning of a total chaos. So we will respect international law. We are predictable, and we will not do all impossible things with these frozen assets,” he added, recalling that Kiev’s Western backers are already using proceeds from the frozen assets to prop up Ukraine.

Throughout the conflict, Western policymakers have considered seizing Russian assets – most of which fall under EU jurisdiction – but have so far refrained due to the lack of a legal basis and fears it would damage global trust.

Last year, however, G7 nations supported a $50 billion loan to Ukraine secured by the income from Russian reserves. Western nations have also directly handed over to Kiev approximately $4.3 billion in proceeds from Russian assets. This month, the EU Commission floated a proposal to use Russian assets to back a reparation loan to Ukraine, which Kiev would be obligated to repay only if it receives “compensation” for damages from Moscow.

Russia has denounced both the freeze and the profit-transfer scheme as “theft,” warning that confiscation would damage the global financial system and trigger retaliation from Moscow.