Speaking at a press conference in Berlin alongside Swedish counterpart Pål Jonson, Pistorius said that overreacting to Russian incursions threatened European peace and security.

"Level-headedness is not cowardice and not fear, but a responsibility towards your own country and towards peace in Europe," he said.

"Slapdash demands to shoot something out of the sky or do some great show of strength help less than anything else right now," he added.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that NATO nations should shoot down Russian planes breaching their territory, as he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of a UN summit.

"Yes I do," Trump said when a reporter asked if NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace.

Armed Russian fighter jets last Friday violated Estonian airspace for 12 minutes, causing NATO to scramble jets and Talinn to call for alliance talks.

That incident came just over a week after Poland launched NATO consultations after Russian drones were shot down over eastern Poland.

Pistorius alleged that Russian leader Vladimir Putin wanted to goad NATO allies into a heavy-handed response as part of an "escalation trap".

"We won't do Vladimir Putin the pleasure," he said. "We need to protect ourselves from a situation in which things get worse."

Speaking earlier on Tuesday, NATO chief Mark Rutte said alliance forces would decide whether or not to engage marauding Russian aircraft "based on available intelligence regarding the threat posed".

Russia's incursion into Estonia had been assessed as presenting "no immediate threat", he added.

Pistorius agreed that recent Russian incursions had occured without "recognisable aggression" and said "we will not let ourselves be provoked".

"That is critically important and, by the way, a lesson of history," he said. "Lots of big wars in the past have come about in that way".