Reuters :
Poland rejected on Friday a suggestion by Donald Trump that Russian drone incursions into its airspace could have been a mistake, a rare contradiction of the U.S. president from one of Washington’s closest European allies.
Poland, backed by aircraft from other NATO, shot down drones that had violated its airspace on Wednesday, the first time a member of the Western military alliance is known to have fired during Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Russia said its forces had been attacking Ukraine at the time and that it had not intended to hit any targets in Poland. Trump told reporters in Washington on Thursday: “It could have been a mistake.”
But Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded on X: “We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it.”
After strong condemnation of Russia by European leaders over the incident, Germany said it had extended air policing over Poland.
The United Nations Security Council was set to meet on Friday at Poland’s request to discuss the incident. NATO called a press conference for 1500 GMT by its head, Mark Rutte, and its top military official, Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich, who is a U.S. Air Force general.
For Warsaw’s leadership so directly to contradict Trump is almost unheard of, and a sign of Europe’s alarm at the U.S. president’s willingness to give weight to Moscow’s account. Poland is among the closest U.S. allies in Europe. It has praised Trump for calling for greater European military spending, and has been praised in turn by the Trump administration for devoting the largest share of its economy to defence of any NATO ally, including the United States itself.
