Polish Foreign Ministry responds to Ukraine's request to down Russian missiles

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Ukraine's request to shoot down Russian missiles from NATO territory is a matter for discussion.

Paweł Wroński, a Polish journalist, noted in an interview with RMF FM that Ukraine is indeed asking its neighbours to shoot down Russian missiles from their territory. 

"The Ukrainian side is making such a request that Polish military forces and Polish air defence systems shoot down missiles flying over Ukrainian territory," Wroński said. 

He mentioned that this is a matter for discussion, and added that potential missile interceptions are associated with a number of prerequisites. 

"For example, technical issues concerning the range of these missiles, as well as legal issues. What will happen if the wreckage of such a missile destroys someone's property or causes someone's death because, ultimately, the missile will not dissolve in the air," he said.

On 22 May, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba discussed Kyiv's call to partners to shoot down Russian missiles from their territory, noting that if they do not want to do so, there is another option.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that assistance from the North Atlantic Alliance in shooting down Russian missiles over the territory of Ukraine would help compensate for Kyiv's deficit in air defence and would not drag NATO in the war.

Earlier, Zelenskyy said he did not understand why Western NATO allies downed Iranian missiles and drones flying towards Israel, but were afraid to do the same in Ukraine, fearing dragging the Alliance in a war with Russia