NATO chief rejects Polish proposal to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine

NATO Secretary General has rejected Poland’s proposal to shoot down Russian missiles flying over Ukraine but heading towards Polish territory. This would risk “making NATO a party to the conflict,” said Jens Stoltenberg.

The idea was included last week in a security agreement between Poland and Ukraine signed by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Warsaw.

The two countries committed to “examining, bilaterally and with other allies, the justification and feasibility of a possible interception in Ukrainian airspace of missiles and drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) fired towards Polish territory.”

Tusk stressed that such a policy would be implemented only with “the approval of the international community, preferably NATO.” However, when asked by Ukrainian media on Sunday about this idea, Stoltenberg responded negatively.

“NATO’s policy remains unchanged: we will not get involved in this conflict. We will not become a party to the conflict,” he said. “We support Ukraine in the destruction of Russian aircraft, but NATO will not be directly involved.”

Last week, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was also asked about the Polish proposal. He said that, for now, there was no change in US or NATO policy.

“But obviously, any time a NATO member wants to raise a policy, they have the opportunity to do so and discuss it with other heads of state,” he added. “They’re having a (NATO) summit this week and I’m sure that’s something that could be discussed if he (Tusk) wants to.”

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On the sidelines of last week’s NATO summit in Washington, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski raised the idea of ​​Poland shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine during a speech at the American Enterprise Institute.

He noted that while Poland can currently target Russian missiles that enter its airspace – as some have already done – this can cause debris that is dangerous in itself.

“The Ukrainians say: ‘Please, we don’t mind, do it over our airspace if they are in imminent danger of crossing Polish territory.’ In my opinion, this is self-defense, but we are studying this possibility,” Sikorski added.

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz also said in Washington that Poland would never take such a decision unilaterally. “If NATO does not take such a decision, Poland will not do it individually,” he told Polish radio.

One NATO ally, however, has been open to the idea. Lithuanian President Gitanas, speaking to the Polish Press Agency (PAP), said the proposal “was not raised by (Polish) President (Andrzej) Duda at the North Atlantic Council, but it is circulating.”

“My answer is: why not? We have to look for new ideas, because often the old formulas that we stick to are not effective, they do not work. That is why we hear such new ideas,” he added.

Main image credit: President of Ukraine/Flickr (public domain)

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from PolandHe has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver And Gazeta Prawna newspaper.