Poland has ‘duty’ to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine, says minister

https://www.ft.com/content/5f7550f5-9ea9-495d-99ee-318276485dc3

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  1. [Unpaywalled Link](https://archive.is/rdoLx)

    Submission Statement:

    Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski told the Financial Times in an interview that Poland and other countries bordering Ukraine had a “duty” to shoot down Russian missiles before they enter their airspace, citing the risk of casualties to those on the ground. The Ukrainian government has lobbied Western countries to provide air defence over western Ukraine using systems located in neighbouring countries, and even for NATO to enforce a no fly zone over the country, but to date NATO has refused to consider such measures, arguing that they could draw the alliance into a direct conflict with Russia.

    A bilateral security agreement between Poland and Ukraine signed in July included a provision to study the “rationale and feasibility” of intercepting missiles in Ukrainian airspace that were “fired in the direction of the territory of Poland”. The Polish government has said such measures would only be adopted if they had the support of the international community, though it’s not clear what this means in practice.

    Last Monday Russia fired two hundred missiles and drones at targets in Ukraine, in what the Ukrainian government called the worst barrage of the war, and followed it up with an additional sixty one yesterday.