On Tuesday, September 23rd, Poland’s president, Karol Nawrocki declared that the country stood ready to “defend its territory” following an incident in which Warsaw accused Moscow of violating its airspace with unmanned drones. His statement followed not only the drone incident but also a breach of Estonian airspace by Russian military jets, which sparked a strong response from NATO.
“Poland will always react adequately, and it stands ready to defend its territory,” Nawrocki told the UN General Assembly, adding that the
Polish people, as well as countries of Central and Eastern Europe, will not be scared of Russian drones.
Nawrocki’s remarks were echoed by U.S. president Donald Trump, who on the same day said that NATO nations should shoot down Russian planes violating their territory, as he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of a UN summit.
“Yes, I do,” Trump affirmed when asked whether NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft entering their airspace.
Zelensky thanked Trump for his “personal efforts to stop this war” and echoed his call for Europe to stop buying Russian oil.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said she had also discussed the repeated airspace violations with Trump, stressing that the two “agreed on the need to cut Russia’s revenues from fossil fuels, and fast.”
In contrast, German defence minister Boris Pistorius cautioned against slipping into an “escalation trap,” emphasizing that “level-headedness is not cowardice” and arguing that Moscow’s aim was to lure NATO into a heavy-handed reaction:
Lots of big wars in the past have come about in that way.
