“It’s absurd”: expert on NATO’s approach to Russian airspace incursions

 Yuriy Romaniuk, international affairs expert and head of the NGO Ukraine in NATO, shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

“Yesterday, there were three completely different statements — from Trump, Rubio, and Mark Rutte. What Tusk said aligns with the Swedish defense minister: anything entering NATO airspace will be shot down. That is the correct position,” Romaniuk said.

According to the expert, NATO’s positions on responding to Russian airspace violations are already chaotic and hardly resemble a coordinated alliance strategy.

“However, it seems to me that Rubio and Rutte’s position will prevail. They will try to block everything and forbid shooting down Russian targets. They will assess the level of threat and risk — checking whether planes crossing NATO airspace are empty or carrying weapons on external mounts. If the planes outwardly appear threatening, they will be shot down. That’s the conclusion I drew from Rubio and Rutte’s statements. If Russian planes carry no missiles or bombs on external mounts, they will just be escorted away. That’s the situation we have to live with. I think many European politicians are smiling somewhere, but on the other hand, they understand how absurd this is. Essentially, it’s chaos and lack of control within NATO,” he added.

• On September 23, after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that NATO countries should shoot down Russian planes that enter their airspace.
• Earlier U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington will not shoot down Russian aircraft in NATO airspace unless they carry out aggressive actions.