The minister told the Financial Times on Monday, Sept. 2, that Warsaw must quickly shoot down Moscow’s missiles as soon as they reach Kyiv’s territory and not allow them to enter Poland. This recommendation comes despite North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg already ruling out such a move.
“I’m personally of the view that, when hostile missiles are on a course of entering our airspace, it would be legitimate self-defense [to strike them] because once they do cross into our airspace, the risk of debris injuring someone is significant,” Sikorski said.
Poland signed a bilateral security agreement with Kyiv in July that opened the door for future negotiations regarding Poland shooting down missiles over Ukraine. However, the Polish government said Warsaw would not commit to defending Ukrainian skies without consulting other NATO states.
Stoltenberg blocked any potential agreement for such activity and ruled out direct NATO involvement in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
“NATO’s policy remains unchanged – we will not participate in this conflict,” Stoltenberg said, adding that the alliance “will not be directly involved” in destroying Russian aircraft.
According to Sikorski, protecting their national airspace independently of NATO’s stance is important, suggesting that objects heading toward Poland warrant action before reaching Polish skies. He underscored that safeguarding airspace is a constitutional duty for each NATO member.
“Membership in NATO does not trump each country’s responsibility for protecting its own airspace,” Sikorski said. He also described these as legitimate self-defense as there are potential risks from missile debris should they enter national territory.
He also highlighted his anti-Russian stance. Even before he was a foreign minister, he had already posted on social media a “thank you” to the United States under the belief that Washington had helped in destroying the Nord Stream pipeline. But to his disappointment, it was revealed last month that the Ukrainians may have conducted the operation as Germany issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national they believe responsible for the pipeline’s destruction.
Just in the last week of August, an unidentified flying object, likely a military drone, crossed into Polish airspace from Ukraine. The Polish armed forces could not engage the object due to its unidentified nature.
Russia could rope in Poland in ongoing conflict with Ukraine, Medvedev warns
According to Russian state-owned news agency TASS, Medvedev said “Obviously, we need to create a buffer zone for the future to ensure that nothing flies in. Its size is anyone’s guess, but it should be sufficient. If they [Ukrainians] wish to get long-range means of attack, such as cruise and ballistic missiles, then this buffer zone should stretch as far as Poland.”
Meanwhile, Poland has reportedly been strengthening its defenses, even announcing new military deals worth $520 million.
The NATO member currently allocates four percent of its gross domestic product to defense, the highest ratio of all alliance members. It aims to increase spending to 4.7 percent next year, according to Al Jazeera.
Warsaw has announced a deal to purchase hundreds of AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and a contract for 48 launchers for U.S.-designed Patriot air defense systems.
Sending JASSMs to Ukraine could significantly alter the strategic landscape of the conflict by putting more of Russia in the range of powerful, precision-guided munitions. However, the source said Kyiv would have to wait several months as Washington works through technical issues ahead of any shipment.
Head over to WWIII.news to read more stories related to ongoing conflicts worldwide.
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