Poland and other countries bordering Ukraine should shoot down Russian missiles before they enter their airspace, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told the Financial Times.
“NATO membership does not abolish the responsibility of each country to defend its own airspace – it is our constitutional obligation. Personally, I believe that if hostile missiles approach our airspace, it would be justified to use self-defense measures to intercept them, because as soon as they cross the border, the risk that the debris could injure someone becomes significant,” the minister said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg rejected Sikorski’s proposal, saying the alliance would then “become part of a military conflict.” Poland’s foreign minister insisted on his country’s right to intercept Russian missiles after an alleged Russian drone crossed Poland’s border on August 26.
In his opinion, the risk of civilian casualties increases as the missile approaches, so it is preferable to shoot down Russian shells at a higher altitude over Ukraine. “The Ukrainians have told us: please,” he added.
Senior Western officials told the publication that such a policy would blur “red lines” and could provoke Russian retaliation.
“We have to do everything we can to help Ukraine and do everything we can to avoid escalation. And that is where NATO’s line has been consistent since the beginning of the war. Of course, we respect the sovereign right of every ally to ensure national security. But in NATO we always consult before we get involved in something that could have consequences for all of us,” the alliance’s deputy secretary-general Mircea Joane told the Financial Times.
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Sheyna said in late March that NATO countries were studying the possibility of shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine. At the same time, he said that such a decision could be taken “only with the consent of the Ukrainian side and taking into account its international consequences”.
In April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on NATO countries to engage their aviation to intercept Russian missiles that hit the country’s energy facilities. “If this aviation will go up to the territories of our neighboring countries and will shoot down missiles that certainly fly to Ukraine, but can also come to these territories, as the facts with Poland and Romania have already been recorded, then let them shoot down these missiles, I will only applaud,” Zelenskyy said.
