EU warns of a 'new normal' after alleged Russian drone attack at German airport

European Union countries have summoned Russia's envoys and discussed fresh sanctions after a drone incident in Germany that the bloc's foreign policy chief said bore the marks of "state-sponsored terrorism".

Airport workers last month found a drone laden with explosives and a detonator at Leipzig airport, an important civilian freight and NATO logistics hub in eastern Germany that is also a base for several giant Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo planes.

Germany blamed Russia for the attack, characterising it as part of hybrid warfare meant to intimidate and cause divisions in countries that have rallied around Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion.

Police used a robot to defuse the device near a Ukrainian cargo plane. Another drone was reportedly found weeks later near the airport, also with traces of an explosive substance.

Russia denies involvement. It says it will respond to what its foreign ministry spokesperson called "anti-Russian action", and summoned Germany's top diplomat in Russia.

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"It is clear that it has all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Ireland.

Kallas said the EU had summoned the Russian envoy, and member states were doing the same.

"We will not let an act of such gravity go unpunished," French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, adding he had called in Russia's envoy in Paris.

Kallas said that EU foreign ministers agreed to continue working on a proposal to impose sanctions on 1,600 individuals and entities linked to Russia's military industry, in the hope of adopting it next month.

"Seeing these hybrid attacks across Europe, I think these are also wake-up calls for the countries who have not been so strong ... on this," she said.

"If we want to end this war, we all have to focus our efforts. Take it to a new level."

Germany blamed Russia for the Leipzig incident on Tuesday and said it was shutting a Russian consulate and ending the contract for a cultural centre in Berlin.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin in televised comments later branded those moves "another mistake, a serious one", saying it "clearly runs counter to the interests of the German people".