Poland considers Kyiv's proposal to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine - Sikorski

BBC reports.

According to the Polish foreign minister, this proposal was included in a joint defense agreement between the two countries signed during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Warsaw earlier this week.

"At this stage, this is an idea. What our agreement said is we will explore this idea,” Sikorski said.

He also recalled instances where some Russian missiles fired from the St. Petersburg area at Ukrainian targets near the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, close to the Polish border, crossed Belarus and entered Polish airspace for about 40 seconds before returning to their targets back in Ukraine.

Sikorski acknowledged that such a short time frame gave Warsaw little time to react. However, the proposal would theoretically cover any missile that passes through western Ukraine toward Poland.

“Our dilemma is the following. If we shoot them down only when they enter our airspace the debris is a threat to our citizens and to our property,” Sikorski said.

He noted that Ukrainians would not mind if Poland shot down missiles over their territory. According to the Polish minister, this could be considered "self-defense," but it is only an idea that is currently being studied.

In addition, Sikorski recalled that in December 2022, a Russian missile landed near his home in Bydgoszcz, about 500 kilometers from the Belarusian border, without causing any harm. A month earlier, two Polish citizens were killed by falling debris when Ukraine shot down a Russian missile near the Polish border.

• The day before, Sikorski reported that Russian forces may have about 100 tactical nuclear warheads in the Kaliningrad region bordering Poland.