US President Donald Trump called out Russia Wednesday for “violating” NATO ally Poland’s airspace with drones, after the White House said he was tracking reports on the intrusion.
“What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump did not elaborate on what he meant by the last part of the brief message.
Trump warned at the weekend that he was ready to impose more sanctions on Moscow over its war on Ukraine, amid growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But Trump’s curt statement on Wednesday also represented the latest occasion on which he has avoided direct criticism of Putin, whom he hosted for a summit in Alaska in August.
The White House announced that Trump would soon speak with his Polish counterpart Karol Nawrocki, a close nationalist ally who visited the Oval Office last week.
“President Trump and the White House are tracking the reports out of Poland, and there are plans for President Trump to speak with President Nawrocki today,” a White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Poland said its airspace was violated 19 times by Russian drones and at least three drones were shot down overnight after Warsaw and its NATO allies scrambled jets.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his country had gathered fellow NATO members for urgent talks and warned that the situation was inching closer to “open conflict.”
The European Union warned that Russia was trying to “test the unity” of Western allies.
Russia’s defense ministry denied targeting Poland and its foreign ministry accused Warsaw of spreading “myths” to escalate the war in Ukraine, which began in 2022 with Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
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© Agence France-Presse
