Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski (centre right) welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday 12 September in Warsaw, returning from kyiv, before heading to the Ukrainian capital himself. He justified the need to allow Ukraine to attack military targets on Russian territory using long-range missiles.
His American and British counterparts met in kyiv on Wednesday with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who reiterated his urgent request to be able to carry out deep strikes inside Russia. Should we agree?
It all depends on the desired objective. Does Ukraine win – that is, regain control of its international borders – or does it hold on? The problem with this second strategy is that kyiv’s ability to resist is not infinite.
Russian invasion in February 2022 condemned by UN General Assembly [ONU]Ukraine has one of its strongest majorities. This means that the victim of aggression has the right to defend itself, even on the territory of the aggressor. This vote enshrines not only Ukraine’s right, but also the obligation of the international community to take countermeasures to restore the application of international law, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has blatantly violated.
I understand the argument of those who need to control the temperature of this conflict. But what worries me is that we are constantly questioned about Vladimir Putin’s “red lines”, but never about our own.
Poland is the only country in the European Union [UE] Ukraine, which is a neighbour of both Russia and Ukraine, has a fairly obvious red line, namely, to prevent our citizens from being killed by Russian missiles or drones that invade our airspace because the Russians have lost control. And I don’t see why Ukraine couldn’t shoot down the bombers that launched these missiles or target the airbases from which they are launched. It seems to me that this is a completely legitimate military objective.
But NATO doesn’t want Poland to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory?
It turns out that Ukraine is asking us to do this. And according to our Constitution, the first duty of the Polish army is to protect our borders, which also applies to airspace. When a missile enters the range of our airspace, my personal opinion is that we have the right to self-defense. These missiles have absolutely no place here.
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