Biden Administration comments on Poland's interception of Russian missiles over Ukraine
Photo: John Kirby (Getty Images)
The United States and NATO do not want to provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin. Therefore, Poland will probably not shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine, stated White House National Security Advisor John Kirby.
According to Kirby, escalation of the conflict would not be beneficial for either Ukraine or Poland.
"Nobody wants to see this war escalate. We want to look for ways to make sure that Ukraine can be successful but we don't want to see this war escalate. That wouldn't be good for Ukrainian people, that wouldn't be good for Polish people, that wouldn't be good for anybody," stated Kirby.
According to him, the Americans do not want a war with Russia.
He also said that the Polish government should determine and express its position on self-defense procedures. He reiterated that the United States does not want escalation.
Kirby added that the American government does not want to give Putin the argument that the war was provoked by NATO.
He noted that the assessment of whether a specific action was an act of self-defense or an escalation depends on the circumstances.
What preceded it
Several times already, missiles launched by Russia towards Ukraine have flown in the direction of Poland and even violated its airspace. However, all the time, Polish air defense did not shoot them down.
After one such incident, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called on Warsaw to shoot down such missiles.
Later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv and Warsaw were working on a mechanism under which Polish air defense would shoot down Russian missiles and drones.
Read more about whether Poland will shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine and what it depends on in the material.
