BRUSSELS\/WARSAW
\nNATO announced plans to beef up the defense of Europe\u2019s eastern flank on Friday, two days after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace in the first known action of its kind by a member of the Western alliance during Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.
\nWarsaw has portrayed the drone incursions as an attempt by Russia to test the capabilities of Poland and NATO to respond.
\nEarlier on Friday, it rejected Donald Trump\u2019s suggestion that the incursions could have been a mistake, a rare contradiction of the US president from one of Washington\u2019s closest allies.
\nRussia said its forces had been attacking Ukraine at the time of the drone incursions and that it had not intended to hit any targets in Poland.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s reckless and unacceptable. We can\u2019t have Russian drones entering allied air space,\u201d NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told a press conference, announcing operation \u201cEastern Sentry.\u201d
\nNUMBER OF ALLIES TO JOIN MISSION
\nThe mission, which begins on Friday evening, will involve a range of assets integrating air and ground bases.
\nAllies, including Denmark, France, Britain and Germany have so far committed to the mission with others set to join, Rutte added.
\nNATO\u2019s top military official, Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich, who is a US Air Force general, said the alliance would defend every inch of its territory.
\n\u201cPoland and citizens from across the alliance should be assured by our rapid response earlier this week and our significant announcement here today,\u201d Grynkewich told the same press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
\nThe United Nations Security Council was set to meet on Friday at Poland\u2019s request to discuss the incident.
\nResponding to Trump\u2019s comment on Thursday that the incursion could have been an accident, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded on X: \u201cWe would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn\u2019t. And we know it.\u201d
\nTrump said in an interview with Fox News on Friday that his patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin was \u201csort of running out and running out fast,\u201d but stopped short of threatening new sanctions over the war.
\nAfter strong condemnation of Russia by European leaders over the incident, Germany said it had extended air policing over Poland and summoned the Russian ambassador on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS\/WARSAW NATO announced plans to beef up the defense of Europe\u2019s eastern flank on Friday, two days after Poland shot down drones that had violated its airspace in the first known action of its kind by a member of the Western alliance during Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine. Warsaw has portrayed the drone incursions as an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502552,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-502523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n