Head of the Polish Foreign Ministry: Shooting down Russian missiles over Ukraine is Poland’s duty

The head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, Radoslaw Sikorski, said that Poland is obliged to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine.

The head of the Polish Foreign Ministry made this statement in an interview with the Financial Times.

What Sikorsky said about intercepting Russian missiles

The minister said Poland had an obligation to ensure the safety of Poles, despite concerns that intercepting Russian missiles over Ukraine could drag NATO into the conflict.

According to Sikorsky, membership in the alliance does not outweigh the responsibility of each state to protect its airspace.

It’s our constitutional duty – said the head of Polish diplomacy.

In his opinion, this involves the destruction of Russian missiles over Ukraine before they penetrate Polish airspace.

Sikorsky noted that the Ukrainian side is not against this approach.

FT recalls that Poland and Ukraine entered into a security agreement in which they pledged to study the possibility of intercepting missiles and drones fired in the direction of Poland in Ukrainian airspace.

On July 8, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the country would discuss with NATO allies the possibility of intercepting missiles over the western part of Ukraine near the Polish border.

The US reacted to this idea with skepticism. In particular, John Kirby, coordinator of strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, said that this is fraught with escalation.

The other day, Sikorsky discussed with his Ukrainian colleague Dmitry Kuleba Ukraine’s request to NATO countries to use their air defense systems to protect Ukrainian airspace.

The Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly called on Western countries to shoot down missiles over Ukrainian territory from their territory.

At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg noted that the alliance’s policy will not change and it will not be directly involved in the conflict, and US Presidential National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that Kyiv itself should be responsible for protecting the sky and air defense operations and not count on the involvement of third parties countries