The Kremlin spokesman’s claim of a de facto war between Moscow and NATO comes as the alliance scrambled jets after Russian drone violations over Poland and Romania
NATO countries are “at war with Russia” over Ukraine, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
“NATO is at war with Russia,” Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Monday. “This is obvious, and it does not require any additional evidence. NATO provides direct and indirect support to the Kyiv regime.” Peskov’s comments reiterated a familiar Kremlin narrative that Western backing of Ukraine amounts to active participation in the conflict.
Tensions soared last week between NATO’s Eastern European allies and Russia. A total of 19 Russian drones flew over Poland overnight on Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, adding that at least three were shot down by Polish and NATO aircraft.
“This situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two,” Tusk warned. The incident marked the first time Russian drones were downed over NATO territory since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
In response to the incursion, Warsaw invoked NATO’s Article 4 on Thursday, which calls for discussions among allies over threats to territorial security. This is a step short of Article 5, which requires collective military defence from allies if a member state is attacked. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski described the drone attacks as a test of the alliance’s resolve by Russia.
Just days later, on Saturday, a Russian drone entered Romanian airspace during an attack on Ukraine. Bucharest scrambled two F-16 fighter jets, which, along with two German Eurofighter Typhoons, tracked the drone for 50 minutes over NATO territory before it headed towards Ukrainian airspace, according to Romania’s Defense Ministry.
The Russian ambassador to Bucharest was summoned in protest over what Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu called a “violation of Romania’s sovereignty”. The UK Foreign Office also condemned Russia’s “unprecedented violation” of Polish and Romanian airspace, branding the incursions “utterly unacceptable”.
Meanwhile, NATO announced plans to deploy more fighter jets to its eastern flank, aiming to protect member states from future drone attacks. Notably, the alliance has not directly intervened in the war in Ukraine – a move that Russia, which fiercely opposes Kyiv’s bid for NATO membership, would consider a major provocation.
It comes after the UK Prime Minister announced today that Britain will deploy RAF Typhoon jets to Poland, joining NATO’s “Eastern Sentry” mission in response to Russia’s “increased aggression”.
In an interview with Channel 4 News, Sir Keir Starmer said: “That is the right thing to do. The wrong thing to do would be to ignore this increased aggression from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, from Russia. Because this wasn’t a one-off. You saw only a few weeks ago the bombing of the British Council in Kyiv, the attacking of the EU embassy, and the direct hits on the Council of Ministers in Kyiv itself.”
He added: “It’s absolutely clear that the Russians are ramping up the aggression. It’s very important that, with our NATO allies, we respond appropriately to that and that’s what we’re doing today.”
Typhoon jets from RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, will take part in NATO’s “Eastern Sentry” mission, patrolling the skies over Poland alongside aircraft from Denmark, France and Germany. They will be backed up by a Voyager air-to-air refuelling aircraft from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.