Warsaw chided U.S. President Donald Trump after he assessed that an incursion by Russian drones into Polish airspace might have been an accident.
“No, that wasn’t a mistake,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski posted on X in response to Trump’s remark, after the Kremlin’s salvo rattled NATO allies.
On Wednesday, Polish and Dutch fighter jets scrambled to shoot down Russian drones violating Poland’s airspace. The incident was widely perceived in Europe as a military and political test from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Washington’s response was initially muted, with Trump posting a cryptic message on his Truth Social platform: “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!”
On Thursday, the U.S. president then cast doubt on whether Russia’s drone incursion was even intentional. “It could have been a mistake. It could have been a mistake, but also I’m not happy with anything regarding that situation,” he said.
According to WELT, a sister publication of POLITICO in the Axel Springer Group, five drones were on a direct flight path toward a NATO base before being intercepted by Dutch Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Moscow’s firing of drones over Poland was “absolutely unacceptable” and added that Russia’s ambassador to France would be summoned Friday over the incident. “We will tell him … that we will not be intimidated,” Barrot said.
Other European countries including Spain, the Netherlands, Czechia, Belgium and Romania have summoned Moscow’s ambassadors as well.
Clea Caulcutt in Paris contributed to this report.
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