New York, 22 September 2025 (dpa/MIA) – The United States on Monday confirmed that it will defend NATO territory against intrusions in the face of repeated Russian violations of the airspace of European NATO members.

"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," US Ambassador Mike Waltz told an emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York.

Russia should urgently stop such dangerous behaviour, the newly appointed ambassador said. "We expect Russia to seek ways to de-escalate, not risk expansion," Waltz added.

He noted that US President Donald Trump had spent an enormous amount of time and effort aimed at ending the "horrific" war between Russia and Ukraine. Russia should negotiate directly with Ukraine to stop the war, Waltz said.

Estonia reported on Friday that three Russian combat jets had penetrated its airspace for 12 minutes. Russia has rejected this version of events.

A large number of Russian drones penetrated Polish airspace in the week prior during a Russian air attack on Ukraine.

Poland and its NATO allies shot down some of the drones for the first time, with fragments later recovered in the east and centre of the country. None have so far been classified as armed or dangerous.

Romania has also recorded a Russian drone entering its airspace.

Poland, Estonia and Romania are all NATO members.

Photo: MIA archive