NATO is considering shooting down Russian missiles that come too close to its borders. Poland was forced to send fighter jets to protect its airspace during Russia’s drone and missile attack on Ukraine on Sunday, in which a missile entered Polish airspace for 39 seconds.
What is NATO looking at?
Russia knew that if the missile moved further into Poland, it would be shot down. There would be a counterattack. Various options are under consideration within NATO, including shooting down such missiles when they are too close to NATO’s borders. Such a move would need Ukraine’s approval.
The history
This is not the first time that a missile from the Ukrainian conflict has entered Polish airspace. On December 29, 2023, a Russian missile entered Polish airspace, putting the country’s defenses on high alert. And on November 15, 2022, a rocket flew into Poland, killing two civilians. It later turned out to be a stray Ukrainian missile fired to intercept a Russian missile.
Poland demands explanations
Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to Poland did not show up Monday for a meeting at the Polish foreign ministry where he had been summoned over a Russian cruise missile that violated Polish airspace over the weekend, a Polish ministry spokesman said. Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev was to be given a note of protest after the Russian missile entered the NATO member’s airspace for 39 seconds early Sunday amid a Russian offensive targeting western Ukraine.
Paweł Wroński, a spokesman for the Polish foreign ministry, told reporters in a brief statement outside the ministry that Andreev did not attend the meeting and that his non-appearance led the Warsaw government to question “whether he is able to properly represent the interests of the Russian Federation in Warsaw”. Wroński said the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations “clearly defines the duties of an ambassador in a host state”.
Poland’s foreign ministry had said it would “demand an explanation” from Russia for the violation of its airspace – the latest of several incidents since Moscow launched its war on Ukraine more than two years ago.
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski briefed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the details of the incident by phone on Monday, the ministry said in a statement.
Sikorski stressed that Russia’s war against Ukraine also threatens the security of NATO member states, the statement said.
