NATO's outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg signaled that he opposes Poland shooting down Russian missiles in Ukrainian airspace in an interview for Ukrainian national television on July 14.
The possibility of Warsaw downing Russian missiles heading toward Poland through Ukraine was laid out in a recently signed Polish-Ukrainian security agreement.
While Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that the matter is still under discussion, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz explained that a decision by the entire NATO is necessary to take this step.
Asked about the issue in the interview, Stoltenberg said, "NATO will support Ukraine, and we have now increased our support...But NATO's policy is unchanged – we will not be involved in this conflict."
"So we support Ukraine in the destruction of Russian aircraft, but NATO will not be directly involved," he added.
At the same time, Stoltenberg voiced support for Ukraine to be able to strike military targets inside Russia with Western weapons.
In the wake of a Russian offensive into Kharkiv Oblast in May, the U.S. and Germany finally allowed Ukraine to use their arms to strike just across the border to disrupt Russian offensive activities.
Restrictions against strikes deep inside Russian territory remain in place. The U.K. recently said that it is discussing the possibility of Ukraine attacking targets inside Russia with Storm Shadow missiles, softening its previous declarations that Kyiv has the right to use British arms as it sees fit.
Kateryna Denisova
(Updated: )
