Stoltenberg Rejects Poland's Proposal to Intercept Russian Missiles Over Ukraine

The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, restated his and the Alliance’s position on taking any active part in the war in Ukraine – NATO will continue supporting Ukraine “in destroying Russian aircraft” but “will not be involved directly.”

On July 8 Ukraine and Poland signed a security cooperation agreement which included a commitment to consider the use of Polish air defenses to intercept Russian missiles in Ukrainian airspace. Both Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Polish Minister of Defense Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamys said the idea would be considered in consultation with their NATO partners.

Asked by a journalist for his take on this idea, while appearing on Ukraine’s telethon on Sunday, July 14, Stoltenberg was unequivocal in his response, saying:

“NATO’s policy remains unchanged – we will not participate in this conflict. We will not become part of the conflict. So, we [will continue to] support Ukraine in destroying Russian aircraft, but NATO will not be involved directly.”

He went on to say that collectively and individually members of the Alliance were increasing their support to Kyiv particularly in terms of air defense systems. He said that in addition to the imminent arrival of F-16 fighter aircraft, NATO was providing additional ground-based air defense systems, in particular the Patriot and NASAMS complexes as well as more ammunition for these and other systems that the country already has.

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Also, during his televised appearance Stoltenberg confirmed his view that Ukraine had the right to engage legitimate military targets on Russian territory which was an aggressor country.

He remarked on the fact that “different countries have introduced different restrictions on the use of weapons that they transfer to Ukraine,” but welcomed Washington’s decision to reduce the limitations it had placed on the use of its missiles for cross-border strikes against Russian forces conducting or preparing attacks on Ukrainian territory.

Stoltenberg was also asked to comment on a recent idea that Ukraine could be granted a phased membership of NATO, starting with the parts of the country currently controlled by the Kyiv government followed by the territory occupied by Moscow as it was liberated.

In reply he said, “We have seen different models, and I will be careful in speaking about what kind of solution could be applied for Ukraine.”

The US authorities also poured cold water on any suggestion that Poland could engage Russian missiles in the skies over Ukraine. Asked to comment on the idea Wednesday, July 10, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that the Polish government was free to establish and articulate its own self-defense procedures, but the US was against the idea.

He said, “Nobody wants an escalation of this war. We want to look for ways to make Ukraine effective, but we don't want escalation. It would not be good for Ukrainians, it would not be good for Poles, and it wouldn't be good for everybody else.”

Russian missiles have violated Polish airspace several times since the February 2022 full-scale invasion with some even falling on Polish and, incidentally, Romanian territory. In November 2022, two Russian missiles fell in the Polish village of Przewodow, killing two civilians. The Polish President Andrzej Duda called the incident an “accident” at the time.

In recent months Poland has scrambled air defense aircraft on several occasions in response to Russian overnight “intense long-range aviation activity.”