Britain has today summoned Russian ambassador Andrei Kelin after the
‘unprecedented violation’ of Nato airspace.
The Foreign Office said the incursions into Polish and Romanian airspace were ‘utterly unacceptable’ and condemned the ‘reckless’ actions.
A statement added: ‘Russia should understand that its continued aggression only strengthens the unity between Nato allies and our determination to stand with Ukraine, and any further incursions will again be met with force. Russia must end its illegal war on Ukraine.’
This comes just hours after former Russian president and ally to Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, threatened war if the military alliance starts to shoot down drones over Ukraine.
In a post on Telegram, the politician wrote: ‘Seriously, the implementation of the provocative idea of Kyiv and other idiots about creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine and the ability for Nato countries to shoot down our UAVs will mean only one thing – a war between Nato and Russia.’
This comes as Nato members Poland and Romania both scrambled fighter jets to respond to drones violating their skies on Saturday.
Multiple other politicians across Europe have also suggested that Western allies should consider intercepting drones and missiles over Ukraine.
Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski was one of them.
In a comment to German media, he said: ‘Technically, we, as Nato and the EU, would be capable of doing this, but it is not a decision that Poland can make alone – only together with our allies.’
Sikorski stressed that Nato should see Russia’s drone incursions in Poland and Romania as a ‘wake-up call to accelerate our defence preparations’.
He said: ‘Since Donald Trump’s first presidency, Europeans have doubled our defence spending.
‘In The Hague, we agreed to double it again. But you can’t defend against drones with gross domestic product alone; you have to spend the money wisely.
‘What is clear is that Ukraine is far ahead of us when it comes to drone defence.
‘It fights hundreds of drones at once almost every day. Neither Germany nor Poland has been able to do that yet.
Should Nato intercept Russian drones over Ukraine?
- Yes
- No
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‘So we need to change our thinking: In this matter, we are not training the Ukrainians; they are training us. We can benefit from their experience now.’
Both the Polish and the Romanian governments have labelled the Russian drone incursions as ‘provocations’.
On Sunday, Romanian foreign minister Oana Toiu said that the Kremlin’s actions posed a ‘new challenge’ to Black Sea security.
She announced that Russia’s ambassador to Bucharest, Vladimir Lipaev, would be summoned to the ministry over Saturday’s airspace breach.
After that meeting on Sunday evening, a ministry statement said Romania had ‘conveyed its strong protest against this unacceptable and irresponsible act, which constitutes a violation of (its) sovereignty.’
It added: ‘Such recurring incidents contribute to the escalation and amplification of threats to regional security.’
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