The United States vowed Friday to defend “every inch of NATO territory,” after a number of suspected Russian drones entered Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine.
Tensions have been high across Europe as leaders condemned the airspace violation on Wednesday — a first since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022 — as the latest sign of escalation from the Kremlin, which has rebuffed President Donald Trump’s bid to broker peace talks.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it was “the closest we have been to open conflict since World War II,” but Moscow downplayed the incident, saying it had “no plans to target” facilities in Poland.
Trump said Thursday that Russia’s alleged drone incursion into Poland could have been a mistake, but his acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Shea, appeared to try to reassure Washington’s NATO allies on Friday following Trump’s remarks.
Violating the airspace of a U.S. ally, “intentionally or otherwise,” showed “immense disrespect for good-faith U.S. efforts to bring an end to this conflict,” she told the U.N. Security Council.
“The United States stands by our NATO allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations,” she said. “And rest assured, we will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
Poland and the U.S. are members of NATO, which at its core is a mutual defense pact formed after World War II to address the threat posed by the Soviet Union, meaning an attack on one may be considered an attack on all.
NATO on Friday launched Operation “Eastern Sentry” to bolster the defense of Europe’s eastern flank in response to the strikes, which saw the drones shot down with the help of NATO allies.
“We must, as NATO, make clear our resolve and our ability to defend our territory, and that is exactly what Eastern Sentry is designed to do,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told a news conference at the organization’s headquarters in Brussels.
Rutte made the announcement standing beside NATO’s top commander, U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, who said military activity would commence in the coming days, involving “a range of assets from allies including Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Germany and others.”
Rutte said NATO was still weighing the possible intent behind the alleged incursion but called the action “reckless and unacceptable,” whether intentional or not.
NATO already has substantial assets in Eastern Europe, including thousands of troops.
It did not specify how many additional troops would be involved in the new operation.
Moscow has intensified its bombing of Ukrainian cities and infrastructure since Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a peace summit in Alaska nearly a month ago.
European allies have said these large-scale aerial assaults indicate that Putin has no interest in bringing the war in Ukraine to a close.
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