Poland’s foreign minister says last week’s incursion by Russian drones into Polish airspace was a deliberate test by Moscow. He says President Vladimir Putin wanted to probe the West’s reaction without starting a full scale war.
Radoslaw Sikorski told the Guardian in Kyiv that the drones sent toward Poland could have carried explosives. He added that the drones which reached Poland were not loaded with explosives. He said, “Interestingly, they were all duds, which tells me Russia tried to test us without starting a war.”
Sikorski rejected suggestions that Poland’s air defences were unprepared. He noted some drones flew hundreds of miles into Polish territory. He said accounts show only three or four out of about 19 drones were shot down.
He said the drones failed to reach their targets. They caused minor property damage. No one was hurt. He added that if the same attack had happened in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials would call it a 100 percent success.
NATO said on Friday it will deploy more jets to the alliance’s eastern flank to deter future drone strikes. On Saturday, allied planes were once again scrambled because of a new drone threat over western Ukraine. Lublin airport was closed and residents in border areas received SMS alerts. No incursion was reported that time.
Sikorski said Poland’s response would have been much tougher if the attack had caused injuries or deaths on Polish soil. He refused to outline what a future hard response might look like. He said, “With an aggressor and a liar like Putin, only the toughest counter pressure works.”
Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said last week that the attack brought the country closer to a military conflict than at any time since World War Two. Sikorski dismissed Donald Trump’s suggestion that the attack might have been a mistake. He said many drones were involved. He added, “You can believe one or two stray targets. But 19 errors in one night over seven hours, forgive me, I do not believe that.”
Sikorski said Poland will train its anti drone teams with Ukrainian operators. He said Ukrainian forces have better gear to deal with Russian drones. He said they also have deep and recent experience fighting Russia.
He said, “This is something the public and Western governments need to accept right away. Ukrainians will train us to stand against Russia, not the other way around.” Training will take place at a NATO training centre in Poland. Sikorski said that will be a safer place than training inside Ukraine.
Roumania became the latest NATO member to report a drone incident on Saturday. Its defence ministry said a drone entered Romanian airspace during Russian strikes on infrastructure in Ukraine. Two F-16 fighters were scrambled late on Saturday to monitor the situation.
Sikorski was speaking at an annual conference in Kyiv. The event gathered Ukraine’s elite and international politicians to discuss the country’s future after more than three years of full scale war.
Former US president Donald Trump addressed the conference in a short video message. He said the war would not have started under his presidency. He claimed, “We have made more progress toward peace in the last three months than Biden did in three years.”
Trump’s Ukraine ambassador, Bridget Brink’s successor or another name? The original named a Trump envoy. The user text named “Keth Kellogg” which may be a mistranslated. To avoid changing facts, keep original: Trump’s Ukraine ambassador, Keith Kellogg, was also in Kyiv. He told the conference the US president is becoming “engaged” with Putin. He warned European leaders who worry Trump might be soft on the Russian leader not to corner him. He said, “I would advise anyone working with President Trump not to put him in a position where he thinks he is being used. That might be the worst place to be.”
Sikorski said he hopes Trump could win a fair peace that would merge Ukraine with the West within defensive borders. He said then Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. When asked if Trump has shown signs of pushing Putin toward that outcome, Sikorski said, “He has his own style. We respect that. But we will judge by results.”
Earlier this month in Paris, 26 countries pledged to take part in a post war security mission for Ukraine. Some will send boots on the ground. Some European leaders said Ukraine is unlikely to join NATO soon. They said any future security guarantee could act like Article 5 protection after a peace deal, to stop Russia from attacking again.
Ihor Zhovkva, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said, “Some countries talk about boots on the ground. We want that because it is real deterrence Ukraine needs.”
Poland said it will not send troops to such a mission. Sikorski warned against grand guarantees that are not credible. He said the aim of guarantees is to deter a potential enemy. He said, “What we are saying is this. If some kind of peace is made and Russia tries to do something to Ukraine again, we might be forced to go to war with Russia. That does not look very reliable to me. If you want to go to war with Russia, you can do it today and I see no volunteers. Nothing is more dangerous in international relations than offering a guarantee that is not credible.”
