NATO warns Russia it will use all means to defend against airspace breaches after Estonia incursions

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO warned Russia on Tuesday that it would use all means to defend against any further breaches of its airspace after the downing this month of Russian drones over Poland and Estonia's report of an intrusion by Russian fighter jets last week.

The Sept. 10 incident in Poland was the first direct encounter between NATO and Moscow since the war in Ukraine began. It jolted leaders across Europe, raising questions about how prepared the alliance is against growing Russian aggression.

Another test of NATO's preparedness and credibility came last Friday, after Estonia said three Russian fighter jets had entered its airspace for 12 minutes without authorization, a charge that Russia has rejected.

“Russia should be in no doubt: NATO and Allies will employ, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military tools to defend ourselves and deter all threats from all directions,” the alliance said in a statement.

“We will continue to respond in the manner, timing, and domain of our choosing,” the 32-member NATO said, and underlined its commitment to Article 5 of its founding treaty that an attack on any one ally must be considered an attack on them all.

Asked whether suspect aircraft would be shot down, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said this would depend "on available intelligence regarding the threat posed by the aircraft, including questions we have to answer like intent, armaments and potential risk to allies, forces, civilians or infrastructure.”

U.S. President Donald Trump was more blunt. Asked by a reporter Tuesday if he thought NATO countries should shoot down such aircraft, Trump said, “Yes, I do.” He later added that direct U.S. involvement would depend on the circumstances.

On Monday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would “without discussion” shoot down flying objects when they violate Polish territory.

Not all appear to endorse that approach. "We will always assess the situation, assess the immediate threat the plane poses,” Rutte said.

The NATO statement came after Estonia requested formal consultations under Article 4 of its treaty, which allows any alliance member to demand a meeting if it believes its territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened. Rutte said the call for talks was “absolutely warranted.”

Rutte also said it was “too early to say” whether a drone incident at Copenhagen Airport overnight, which shut down airspace around Scandinavia's largest airport for hours, was linked to Russia.

Britain’s top diplomat has said the United Kingdom is ready to “confront” Russian planes if they enter NATO airspace. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Moscow’s “reckless actions risk a direct armed confrontation” between Russia and the Western military alliance.

Speaking Monday at the United Nations in New York, Cooper said: “We are vigilant. We are resolute. And if we need to confront planes that are operating in NATO airspace without permission, then we will do so.”

Typhoon jets from the Royal Air Force have been taking part in NATO’s Eastern Sentry mission, flying their first mission over Poland on Sept. 19.

The airspace incidents have sparked calls for action, and raised questions about NATO's ability to deter Russia even as President Vladimir Putin wages war on Ukraine.

They also come months after the Trump administration warned Europe that it must take care of its own security, and that of Ukraine, in future, raising questions about the American commitment to the world's biggest military alliance. Threats of tough U.S. sanctions against Russia have also remained just threats.

"We see a pattern: Russia is testing European borders, probing our resolve, undermining the security of the whole of Europe. Russia will continue to provoke as long as we allow it,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the United Nations on Monday.

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

A man walks by a mural with flags of NATO member countries at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte listens to questions from journalists during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Three more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed, including one outside the main cluster in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping a resurgent pest that could devastate the nation's cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

The screwworm is actually a fly larva that eats living flesh instead of dead material. The flies lay their eggs in open wounds of animals like cattle, but wildlife, pets and occasionally even humans can be infested. The government has a program to breed sterile male flies and drop swarms of them from planes to mate with wild females, which kept screwworm contained at the southern end of Panama for decades.

So far, there are five confirmed cases: three calves and a goat in Texas and a dog from neighboring Lea County, New Mexico. The small dog, which the USDA initially reported as a Texas case, lives in New Mexico and was reclassified as the first in that state.

The dog had not traveled to Mexico or Texas, so authorities were investigating around the property where the pet lived. If they find infected flies, animal inspections in the area will increase, New Mexico State Veterinarian Samantha Holeck said during a virtual news conference Monday.

The first two screwworm cases were discovered last week in calves a few miles apart in south Texas. A case was announced Monday in a calf in La Salle County, southwest of San Antonio, and in a goat in Gillespie County, west of Austin.

In each case, officials have set up a 12-mile (20-kilometer) quarantine zone to try to slow the parasite's advance.

Along with cattle and other warm-blooded livestock, scientists worry screwworms could devastate the millions of wild white-tailed deer in Texas.

Scientists expect new cases could pop up in the coming days and weeks, but it doesn't mean screwworm is spreading rapidly, said Edward Burgess, a University of Florida entomologist who studies the fly.

“When that first case is seen, everyone is being vigilant and their eyes are on it more intensely,” Burgess said. “And when you are looking for something, you are more likely to see it.”

Screwworm gets its name from the maggots’ habit of burrowing — or screwing — into a wound, according to the USDA. The pest eats the flesh of the animal, further opening wounds and increasing the risk of deadly bacterial infections. Animals can die within a few weeks if not treated. There are a dozen government-approved medications to treat livestock.

The agency and the U.S. cattle industry have been racing to prevent an outbreak since screwworm was detected in Mexico late in 2024. The USDA has been dropping sterile flies in south Texas since February and is working to both increase sterile fly production in plants outside the U.S. and build a $750 million fly factory in Texas.

So far, screwworm's reappearance hasn’t greatly affected beef prices, which are already near record levels because there are fewer cows in the United States. Although the parasite attacks live cattle, it does not infest meat or fruit.

Canada temporarily stopped importing cattle, horses or other livestock from Texas on Friday. The parasites prefer humid areas where temperatures are at least 77 F (25 C), making them more of a summer problem up north.

Burgess said the long-term solution — breeding sterile male flies — is months away. Since wild female flies mate just once, if that encounter is with a sterile male, outbreaks can eventually be halted as the flies die out.

The goal is to have enough sterile flies to stop the pests from returning in 2027 after the winter kills off most of them, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a news conference at the U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas.

Scientists are also working on ways to sterilize only male flies to make the program even more effective.

Texas officials encouraged ranchers to keep a close eye on their herds and local wildlife. There's now a 24-hour screwworm hotline and a website and map for reported cases.

“This is a highly treatable condition if you act on it immediately,” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said.

However, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller — who lost the recent Republican primary to a candidate backed by Abbott — said the federal response will take too long and risks crippling the cattle industry.

Instead, he says a poison bait could eliminate the screwworm problem in a few months, even if the USDA and other experts say the bait hasn’t been proven effective and could poison other flies, animals and even humans.

“What the hell is a good fly?” Miller said in an interview.

This story has been updated to reflect that the USDA revised the dog screwworm case to New Mexico, not Texas as the agency initially reported, and to correct the spelling of Kerrville.

Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Signage is seen as U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins holds a news conference at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, center, holds a news conference with ranchers, researchers and officials at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A ranchers arrivse for a news conference with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

FILE - A test container of dyed fly pupae are displayed at a Domestic New World Screwworm Sterile Fly Production Facility to combat the northward spread of NWS and protect American livestock, in Edinburg, Texas, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE - An adult New World screwworm fly sits in this undated photo. (Denise Bonilla/U.S. Department of Agriculture via AP)