BRUSSELS: NATO chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday slammed Moscow's "reckless behaviour" after Russian drones violated Polish airspace, and hailed the alliance's "very successful reaction" to counter the incursion.
"A full assessment is ongoing. But of course, whether it was intentional or not, it is absolutely reckless, it is absolutely dangerous," alliance chief Mark Rutte said after NATO members held emergency discussions.
Rutte said that NATO's "air defences were activated and successfully assured the defence of NATO territory, as they are designed to do".
"To Putin, I mean, my message is clear: stop the war in Ukraine, stop the escalating war, which he is now basically mounting on innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure," he added.
"Stop violating allied airspace, and know that we stand ready, that we are vigilant, and that we will defend every inch of NATO territory," he said.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Russian drones that violated Polish airspace were "clearly set on this course" and "did not have to fly this route to reach Ukraine".
"There is absolutely no reason to believe that this was a course correction error or anything of the sort," Pistorius told the German parliament.
Russia denies targetting Polish sites
The Russian army, in its response, said it did not target Polish sites in an overnight drone attack on Ukraine, after the NATO member said it had downed several Russian drones that breached its airspace.
"There were no intentions to engage any targets on the territory of Poland," Russia's defence ministry said in a statement in English, without confirming or denying that its drones had entered Polish airspace.
"We are ready to hold consultations on this subject with the Polish defence ministry," it added.
US says stands by NATO allies
The US ambassador to NATO said Wednesday that Washington stood by its allies after the Russian drone invasion that was countered by NATO air defences.
"We stand by our NATO Allies in the face of these airspace violations and will defend every inch of NATO territory," the US envoy to the alliance, Matthew Whitaker, wrote on X.