"If so necessary. So I totally agree here with President Trump: if so necessary,” Rutte said in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News.
He added that NATO militaries are trained to assess such threats and decide whether to escort Russian planes out of allied airspace or take more decisive action, the Reuters news agency reported.
In recent weeks, Russia has tested NATO’s tolerance with incursions into the airspace of Poland, Romania, Estonia and Denmark, according to media reports.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday he believed NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they again attempt to breach sovereign airspace.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters, nypost.com, nato.int