Before attending the memorial service for conservative influencer and activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday, Donald Trump stated that he “will” help defend Poland and the Baltic states if Russia continues to escalate.
Trump’s response comes at a time of mounting pressure from NATO over Russia’s increasing provocations in Europe.
Several countries, including Lithuania, Estonia, and the Czech Republic, have called on NATO to issue a stronger response to Russian provocations, including potentially shooting down Russian fighter jets violating alliance borders.
The reactions follow Russia’s violation of NATO airspace in Estonia for 12 minutes on Friday, prompting the country to invoke NATO’s Article 4 and an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
About a week and a half earlier, some 19 drones violated Polish airspace, leading Poland to do the same.
“We must respond appropriately, perhaps even by shooting down Russian fighter jets,” Czech President Petr Pavel said, adding: “What happened in recent days in Poland and Estonia, and what has been happening in Ukraine for four years now, concerns us all. If we do not remain united, sooner or later it will happen to us as well.”
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene also suggested downing Russian drones in a post on X.
Poland’s Defense Minister likewise called for more urgent NATO responses on Sunday while reacting to the latest Estonian airspace violation.
“NATO must respond very strongly and decisively to Russia’s provocations,” he said Sunday in Boguchwała, in the Podkarpacie region.
In response to the latest airspace breach, Estonia’s Foreign Ministry announced that “on September 22, the United Nations Security Council will convene an urgent meeting in response to Russia’s blatant violation of Estonian airspace last Friday.”
