NATO sceptical about Poland downing Russian air targets over Ukraine – Polish Defence Ministry

Polish officials have said that the decision to allow Russian missiles and combat drones to be shot down in Ukrainian airspace using Polish air defence systems has been met with scepticism among NATO countries.

Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz's statement was made in a comment to Polish press agency PAP in response to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's words about negotiations with Warsaw on the possibility of shooting down missiles at least over the western part of Ukraine.

But, as Zelenskyy stressed, the Polish side does not want to be "left alone" with this decision.

Kosiniak-Kamysz stressed that there is "great scepticism" on this issue among NATO countries and stressed that "no country will make such decisions alone".

"I don't see any supporters in NATO for this decision," he said.

In addition, Kosiniak-Kamysz added that he was not surprised that Zelenskyy stressed the importance of such a decision, as this is his role.

However, Kosiniak-Kamysz noted that the role of the Polish Ministry of Defence is "to make decisions in the interests of the Polish state".

On 27 August, Zelenskyy said that he wanted Warsaw's help in shooting down missiles over Ukraine’s west, at least the ones heading toward Poland.

In July, Zelenskyy said that the security agreement with Poland included a provision to develop a mechanism to shoot down Russian missiles and drones fired in the direction of Poland in Ukrainian airspace.

Zelenskyy also expressed confusion as to why Western NATO allies shot down Iranian missiles and drones flying towards Israel, while they were afraid to do the same in Ukraine, fearing the Alliance's involvement in a war with Russia.