EUROPE 'READY TO SHOOT DOWN JETS'

KREMLIN DENIES CLAIMS IT IS VIOLATING NATO AIRSPACE

- STORY: PATRICK DONAHUE / BLOOMBERG

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte at Nato headquarters, in Brussels, on Tuesday, after the alliance held urgent talks about a Russian jet incursion over Estonia last week.

European diplomats warned the Kremlin last week that Nato is ready to respond to further violations of its airspace with full force, including by shooting down Russian planes, officials who were present say.

At a tense meeting in Moscow, British, French and German envoys addressed their concerns about an incursion by three MiG-31 fighter jets over Estonia this month, according to the officials. Following the conversation, they concluded that the violation had been a deliberate tactic ordered by Russian commanders.

Russian officials have denied their planes crossed into Estonian airspace and insisted that they are not trying to test Nato. They said that a separate incident when drones crossed into Poland was the result of an error. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian military flights are guided by international rules.

Nato's eastern members have faced a series of violations this month that have posed an unprecedented test of the alliance's resolve at a moment when Vladimir Putin is stepping up Russian attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure and US backing for Kyiv is wavering. Following a Sept 23 meeting of the allies to discuss the incursions, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said: "Allies condemn Russia's reckless actions, which are escalatory, risk miscalculation and endanger lives."