Russia shouldn’t complain at the United Nations if its missiles or aircraft are shot down after entering NATO airspace, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned Moscow on Monday.
Sikorski was speaking at an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council in New York. The summit was convened after three Russian military jets entered Estonian airspace for 12 minutes on Sept. 19 before being repelled by Italian F-35s representing NATO.
“I have only one request to the Russian government: If another missile or aircraft enters our space without permission, deliberately or by mistake, and gets shot down and the wreckage falls on NATO territory, please don’t come here to whine about it,” Sikorski said. “You have been warned.”
The incursion into Estonia came after Russia sent drones into both Poland and Romania earlier this month, putting NATO on high alert across Europe.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Monday that Warsaw will shoot down enemy aircraft that enter Polish airspace.
“I want to be very clear. We will make a decision to shoot down flying objects without discussion when they violate our territory and fly over Poland. There is no room for debate here,” Tusk told a press conference.
Not to be outdone, Sikorski sent a further barb Moscow’s way in New York: “We know you don’t care for international law, and you are incapable of living in peace with your neighbors. Your insane nationalism contains a lust for domination that will not cease until you realize that the age of empires is over and that your empire will not be rebuilt.”
The multiple incursions into NATO territory have led the EU to launch talks on creating a so-called drone wall to defend Europe’s eastern border against Moscow. Seven EU member countries are set to discuss the defensive gambit in an online meeting with the European Commission and Ukraine on Friday.
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