Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte condemned the Russian drone incursion into Poland on Wednesday as “the largest concentration of violations of Nato airspace” (17:06) as he criticised “reckless” Russian actions, but stopped short of taking the view on whether it was a deliberate attack on Poland (17:10, 17:26).
Rutte spoke alongside Nato’s top general in Europe, Alexus Grynkewich, announcing a new force to strengthen the defence of the Eastern flank of the alliance, “Eastern Sentry”, and pledging to “defend every inch of territory” (17:09, 17:14, 17:19, 17:27).
Grynkewich praised the Nato’s response on Wednesday, but added that “the scale of that incursion [was] something that we hadn’t seen to this point” and “it’s time to take a fresh look” at what’s needed (17:23, 17:32).
US president Donald Trump said that his patience with Vladimir Putin was “running out and running out fast” (14:52), but appeared to play down the significance of the event while insisting that drones “shouldn’t be close to Poland anyway” (14:56).
But a number of Polish politicians, including the country’s prime minister and foreign minister, contradicted Trump’s earlier comments after he suggested “it could have been a mistake” (9:50, 10:04, 10:10).
Separately, the EU has agreed to extend sanctions against hundreds of Russian politicians, oligarchs and military commanders over the war in Ukraine (12:41).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Eastern sentry 'sends a clear response to Russia,' Poland's Tusk says
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk welcomed the new Nato mission as he said Poland wanted “our actions to send a clear response to Russia that its provocations will not be in any way tolerated.”
“We welcomed with satisfaction the assurances and declarations just made by Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and the Supreme Allied Commander Europe general Grynkewich. These are exactly the kind of declarations and decisions we had asked for; a decisive and swift action,” he told lawmakers in the Polish Sejm.
