President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a call with Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer, President of the Council of Ministers of Italy Giorgia Meloni, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
First, the leaders discussed the Russian drones launched against Ukraine last night that also entered Polish airspace. Incidents with one or two Russian drones had already occurred before in NATO’s eastern flank countries, including a few weeks ago in Romania. But this time the number of Russian drones was much larger, the brazenness much greater – the drones entered not only through Ukrainian territory but also from Belarus. The leaders have a shared understanding that this is a completely different level of escalation from the Russian Federation, deliberate, and that there must be an appropriate response.
The Prime Minister of Poland informed about the consequences and circumstances already established. According to him, debris from Russian drones, including Iranian “shaheds”, was found in many Polish towns and villages. Since last night, Ukrainian military personnel have been sharing all available information with their Polish partners. This cooperation continues.
The leaders agreed that there are several reasons for such brazen behavior from Russia, and they are absolutely obvious. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine and its partners must work on a joint air defense system and create an effective air shield over Europe. Ukraine has long proposed this, and there are concrete solutions. He also emphasized the need to respond together to all current challenges and to be ready for potential threats to all Europeans in the future. According to him, it is important to significantly increase funding for the production of Ukrainian interceptor drones, which have already proven their effectiveness.
The Head of State offered Poland assistance, training, and expertise in shooting down Russian drones, particularly “shaheds”. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Tusk agreed on appropriate cooperation at the military level. Coordination with all NATO member states will also continue.