Next months may be 'critical,' Tusk says amid reports of planned Russian provocation against Poland
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Poland is preparing "for various scenarios," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on July 3 when asked about reports that Moscow is preparing military provocations against the country.
"I don't mean to scare anyone, but the coming months... could truly be critical," Tusk said during a press conference, acknowledging the Russian threat. "These concerns are particularly palpable in the Baltic states."
The Polish media outlet Onet reported on June 30 that, according to five undisclosed sources, Moscow may be preparing a limited military provocation aimed at Poland to spark tensions and undermine support for Ukraine.
One of the sources told the outlet that the U.S. has been warning Warsaw about "new Russian plans for a conventional attack on NATO's eastern flank, from which Poland is absolutely not excluded."
Western officials and intelligence services have been raising alarm in recent months about the possibility of a Russian operation in Poland or the Baltic countries designed to test NATO's unity.
"We shouldn't be afraid. We're preparing for various situations, but we can't ignore this," Tusk said.
The warnings come amid unprecedented ruptures between the U.S. and its European partners, with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration preparing a review of its military presence in Europe.
Poland, sharing a border with Russia's heavily armed exclave of Kaliningrad and Moscow's ally Belarus, was the first country to down Russian drones that entered its airspace during an aerial attack on Ukraine in September 2025.
