NATO has bolstered its defence forces after Russian drones were shot down over Polish airspace.
The aircraft were downed earlier this week, in an operation involving Dutch, German, Italian and Polish aircraft, after they violated Polish airspace returning from an attack on Ukraine.
The Netherlands and the Czech Republic have now confirmed they will send defences to Poland, Germany has plans to "intensify its engagement along NATO's eastern border" and extend and expand air policing over Poland, and France is sending additional fighter jets.
"We will not yield to Russia's growing intimidation," said French President Emmanuel Macron.
Poland rejected claims from the Kremlin that the violations were accidental and has also requested a UN Security Council session about the incident, which will take place on Friday.
Speaking to the ABC, Australian NATO expert Professor Stephan Fruehling, said he believes the events of this week make a direct conflict between NATO and Russia more likely.
“I think it's a very significant step up of the tensions with Russia…this time, there seems to be essentially no doubt in NATO that this was a deliberate kind of provocation,” Fruehling said.
“The number of drones, the timing, and reportedly some of these drones were modified with extra fuel tanks so that they could reach well into Poland, so this is a deliberate test of what NATO does.”
