POLAND CALLS FOR SERIOUS DEBATE ON INTERCEPTING RUSSIAN MISSILES OVER UKRAINE
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has called for a serious discussion on whether NATO countries should intercept Russian missiles while they are still over Ukrainian territory, arguing that the growing intensity of Russia’s missile campaign raises new security questions for the Alliance.
Sikorski pointed to the repeated ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv in recent days, noting that these weapons continue to kill civilians and remain among the most difficult threats for Ukraine to intercept.
“The question of whether we can be sure that it would be better to shoot down these Russian missiles over Ukraine, and not, perhaps, later over Poland, is a topic for a very serious discussion.”
The proposal is not new, but the debate has gained urgency as Russia has launched some of its largest ballistic missile barrages of the war in recent weeks. Ukraine has repeatedly argued that missiles heading toward western and central Ukraine often pass close to NATO territory, making them a broader regional security concern rather than solely a Ukrainian one.
So far, NATO has maintained that it will not directly engage Russian missiles over Ukraine, citing concerns about escalation. However, Sikorski’s remarks reflect a growing discussion within some allied countries about whether that policy should be revisited as Russia’s attacks intensify.
The comments also come as Ukraine continues to face a shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles, one of the few systems capable of reliably defeating Russian ballistic missiles.
As Russia expands the scale of its missile attacks, the conversation is gradually shifting. The question is no longer only how Ukraine should defend its skies, but whether defending Ukraine’s skies also strengthens the security of NATO’s eastern flank.