Poland will not shoot down Russian drones or missiles over Ukraine, nor will it train Ukrainian soldiers on Ukrainian territory.
Deputy Minister of Defense during the meeting of the heads of the defense departments of the EU countries of Poland Pawel Zalewski, “Evropeyska Pravda” with reference to RMF24 .
“We are not considering in any format what is one of Ukraine’s expectations, namely the possibility of shooting down missiles or drones from Polish territory,” Zalevsky said.
He believes that “the radical strengthening of the air defense of Ukraine by the West should be sufficient and does not require such support from the Polish Air Force.” He noted that “Ukraine must have something to defend itself,” but emphasized that “NATO and EU countries are not parties to the war.”
As such, he strongly rejected a Ukrainian proposal that NATO allies such as Poland shoot down Russian missiles or drones that fly at them but are still in Ukrainian skies. Zalevsky also resolutely rejected Kyiv’s idea of training Ukrainian military personnel on Ukrainian territory.
This idea has the support of France and some Northern European countries. However, it did not receive unanimous support in the EU countries. First of all, Germany and Austria believe that Russia may perceive this as a provocation. There are also fears that the EU will not be able to ensure the safety of European instructors.
Poland joins the opponents of this idea. According to Zalevsky, the training of Ukrainian soldiers in the form in which it is currently taking place in EU countries (that is, in Poland or Germany) “is the most effective.” In his opinion, on a bilateral basis, some EU countries can train in Ukraine, but, as he emphasized, “Poland is not one of them.”
