BRUSSELS/ WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters): NATO warned Russia on Tuesday that it would use "all necessary military and non-military tools" to defend itself as it condemned Moscow for violating Estonian airspace in a "pattern of increasingly irresponsible behaviour".

The warning came after Estonia said on Friday that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated its airspace for 12 minutes before NATO Italian fighter jets escorted them out.

The week before, some 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace, prompting NATO jets to shoot some of them down and the alliance to beef up the defence of Europe's eastern flank.

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to come out in favour of a robust NATO response to any future incursions as he spoke to reporters at the United Nations General Assembly.

Asked whether NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft that enter their airspace, he told reporters: "Yes, I do."

The NATO statement followed a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, made up of ambassadors from the alliance's 32 member countries, which was called after Estonia invoked Article 4 of NATO's founding treaty.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth held a call with Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur on Tuesday and told him that Washington "stands with all NATO allies and that any incursion into NATO airspace is unacceptable," the Pentagon said in a statement.

Separately, the Group of Seven nations issued a joint statement saying the airspace violations in Estonia, Poland and Romania were unacceptable and undermined international security.

The club of rich countries said they would work with the U.S. to provide Ukraine with robust and credible security guarantees. They also discussed imposing economic costs on Russia including against "third country enablers" which support Moscow through trade.

Photo from Reuters