Donald Trump said incursions by Russian drones into Polish airspace ‘could have been a mistake’ but stressed that he was ‘not happy’ by the incident that was condemned by NATO and its allies.
Poland on Wednesday shot down what it said were Russian drones that violated its airspace.
Warsaw was backed by its NATO allies in taking down the devices- the first time a member of the military alliance is known to have fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Russia said it had not intended to hit any targets in Poland, and that it would make no further comment on the incident, while senior NATO commander said it was not yet known whether the drone incursions were intentional.
‘It could have been a mistake, but regardless I’m not happy about anything having to do with that whole situation,’ Trump told reporters on Thursday outside the White House.
European leaders expressed alarm on Thursday over Russian hostility threatening their countries after the incursion into NATO-member Poland deepened fears that the three-year war in Ukraine could lead to World War III.
It comes as US-led efforts to steer Moscow and Kyiv toward a peace settlement have so far failed to gain traction.
European officials described the incursion as a deliberate provocation, forcing the NATO alliance to confront a potential threat in its airspace for the first time and compelling it to think carefully about its military response and capabilities.
Donald Trump spoke about Russia’s incursion into Polish airspace outside the White House on Thursday
Multiple Russian drones moving from Ukraine airspace into Poland’s
Trump’s comments also come as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke about the incursion with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday.
Starmer said that it was ‘clear that Russia was continuing to ramp up its aggression, systematically stepping up its attacks through a campaign of increasingly belligerent actions.’
The German government said it will ‘extend and expand air policing over Poland.’
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania published a joint statement calling the incursion ‘a deliberate and coordinated strike constituting an unprecedented provocation and escalation of tension.’
The Kremlin said it had nothing to add to a Wednesday statement by Russia’s Defense Ministry, which insisted that Russian forces had not targeted Poland and that it was open to discuss the incident with Polish officials.
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the drone incursion for Friday afternoon at Poland’s request.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed Polish troops at an air base in the central city of Lask on Thursday, praising the quick response from the troops and NATO allied forces from the Netherlands.
He pledged to push ahead with a ‘great modernisation program’ for his country’s military.
Polish television channel TV Republika shared this image of one of the downed drones
Photos show the extent of damage to a house in Poland after Putin’s drones were flown in
A house is damaged after a drone struck a residential building, according to authorities in Poland
Donald Tusk holding an emergency meeting today with senior officials after Russia’s actions
Senior army officials, including the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Wieslaw Kukula, are at the extraordinary meeting
The Polish Air Navigation Agency announced that Poland was introducing air traffic restrictions in the eastern part of the country.
It said the step was taken at the request of the Polish army for national security reasons but did not elaborate.
Poland said some of the drones that entered its airspace Wednesday came from Belarus, where Russian and local troops have begun gathering for war games scheduled to start Friday.
Poland is closing its border with Belarus at midnight, a planned move also associated with the military exercises.
