Donald Tusk

Sept. 13 (UPI) — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO is launching a new military campaign in Poland following an incursion by Russian drones in Polish airspace earlier in the week, the military alliance confirmed in a statement.

Operation Eastern Sentry will “bolster NATO’s posture along the eastern flank” and “involve a range of Allied assets and feature both traditional capabilities and novel technologies, including elements designed to address challenges associated with drones,” the organization confirmed in a release.

Earlier in the week, Polish and Dutch fighter jets scrambled by NATO shot down more than 20 Russian drones over eastern Poland.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk later confirmed the “multiple violations of Polish airspace,” and the country invoked NATO’s Article 4, convening allied nations to respond.

NATO countries, including the United States, have since pledged their full support for Poland.

This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump questioned Thursday whether the Russian drones could have been accidental.

“It could have been a mistake. It could have been a mistake, but also I’m not happy with anything regarding that situation,” Trump told a reporter asking about the situation.

Tusk responded in a Friday social media post.

“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it,” Tusk said in response to Trump’s comments.

“No, that wasn’t a mistake,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski added separately on X.

American officials struck a supportive tone Friday.

“The United States stands by our NATO allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations. And rest assured, we will defend every inch of NATO territory,” acting U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Shea said in an address to the U.N. Security Council.

The new military exercise is aimed at deterring further Russian military aggression in NATO airspace or on the ground.

“The violation of Poland’s airspace earlier this week is not an isolated incident and impacts more than just Poland. While a full assessment of the incident is ongoing, NATO is not waiting, we are acting,” NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Alexus G. Grynkewich, said in a statement issued by NATO’s Allied Command Operations.

“Eastern Sentry and this new approach will deliver even more focused and flexible deterrence and defense where and when needed to protect our people and deter against further reckless and dangerous acts like what occurred earlier this week,” he said.

Denmark, France and Germany have already committed military aircraft to the operation, with Denmark also pledging an anti-air warfare navy frigate. Meanwhile Britain has “expressed its willingness to support,” according to the NATO statement.

In January, NATO launched a similar operation aimed at deterring Russian operations to sabotage deep-sea cables in the Baltic Sea.

The Baltic Sentry program was also implemented by NATO’s Allied Command Operations and came after an undersea cable connecting Estonia and Finland was cut last December.

Sept. 10 (UPI) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday that Polish forces and their NATO partners downed a “huge” number of Russian drones overnight, the first time Russian assets have been intercepted in the military alliance’s airspace.

“Last night, the Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones. Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down. I am in constant communication with the Secretary General of NATO and our allies,” Tusk said in a post on X.

He said there were “multiple violations of Polish airspace,” each of which was met by Polish and NATO air defenses, including fighter jets.

Tusk said he was in continual contact with the commander of the operation, the defense minister and the country’s president.

Residents were sent emergency texts alerting them of the air defense operation and requesting them to report any drones they saw or locations where they fell, while people in three regions in the east of the country were told to stay indoors.

Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Alexus Grynkewich said NATO’s swift and decisive response demonstrated both the alliance’s ability and determination “to defend Allied territory.”

Speaking after an emergency meeting of the National Security Bureau, Tusk said Poland was most likely “dealing with a large-scale provocation.” He called the situation “serious” but vowed that Poland was “ready to repel” attacks of this nature.

A number of the drones entered from Belarus airspace, Tusk told lawmakers later Wednesday, and that the last of the objects was shot down at 6:45 a.m. local time.

“I have no reason to claim we’re on the brink of war, but a line has been crossed, and it’s incomparably more dangerous than before. This situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War Two,” he said.

The incursion came amid a massive Russian airborne attack against neighboring Ukraine involving more than 400 drones and more than 40 cruise and ballistic missiles, with the Ukrainian Air Force saying that as many as 24 drones “crossed the Ukrainian state border flying in Poland’s direction.”

Poland shares borders of roughly equal length with both Ukraine and Belarus.

NATO Allied Command Operations confirmed the clashes were the first time NATO aircraft had engaged with potential threats in “Allied Airspace” with Poland and the Netherlands scrambling fighter jets, Italian early warning aircraft and a NATO air-refuelling tanker airborne and German-supplied Patriot missiles on alert.

“NATO, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, and all of Allied Command Operations is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace,” said Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe spokesman.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement saying he had been in communication with Tusk over the incident, which he called a “barbaric attack on Ukraine and the egregious and unprecedented violation of Polish and NATO airspace by Russian drones”.

“This was an extremely reckless move by Russia and only serves to remind us of President Putin’s blatant disregard for peace and the constant bombardment innocent Ukrainians face every day.”

The incident came hours after Starmer hosted NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Downing Street where they discussed work to integrate U.S. support into plans for a so-called Coalition of the Willing of European countries putting together a reassurance force for Ukraine to uphold any future cease-fire.

Condemning the incursion in “the strongest possible terms,” French President Emmanuel Macron said it was completely unacceptable and that he would meet with Rutte — but did not say when.

Belarus claimed the incursion was accidental, caused by drones turned “rogue” after their systems were jammed, claimed its forces had shot some of them down, and that it communicated with Poland and Lithuania over a five-hour period during the night.

Moscow, however, sought to lay blame on Ukraine, with Russian state television quoting unnamed Polish lawmakers saying it appeared to be a false-flag operation perpetrated by Kyiv.

June 2 (UPI) — Karol Nawrocki, a populist conservative backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, has won Poland’s presidential runoff election, according to official results released Monday.

Eyes across the country, Europe and even North America were watching the race in Poland, where the presidency is a somewhat symbolic position — especially compared to the prime minister and their executive powers — but one that does come with veto authority.

The election of Nawrocki also suggests a political shift in the deeply divided nation.

Warsaw Mayor Rafal Kazimierz Trzaskowski — of Prime Minister Donald Tusk‘s Civic Platform party — had narrowly beaten Nawrocki, a conservative historian who ran as an independent, in the first round of voting on May 18, but failed to gain a majority of the votes to win the presidency outright.

In Sunday’s runoff, the roles were reversed, and it was Nawrocki who secured the narrow victory. According to official results, Nawrocki, 42, won 50.89% of the vote. Trzaskowski, 53, received 49.11%.

Of the 20.8 million cast votes — representing 71.6% of Poland’s population — nearly 37,000 votes separated the two candidates.

Nawrocki was backed by the nationalist opposition Law and Justice party.

This is a developing story.

May 10 (UPI) — European leaders from Britain, France, Germany and Poland joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Saturday in urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a 30-day unconditional ceasefire or face more sanctions.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merez traveled in a train together to Kiev, and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk was aboard another train, the Guardian reported.

Zelensky said they “spoken to President Trump together. We agreed on our common view of our further actions.”

“The cease-fire must be comprehensive: in the air, at sea and on land,” Zelenskyy told reporters. “It is quite possible to monitor the cease-fire in coordination with the United States of America, this is really realistic. The cease-fire should last for 30 days to give diplomacy a real chance.”

Zelensky said he was “grateful to President Trump” and wants the cease-fire to begin Monday in a post on X.

“We share a common view: an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire is needed for at least 30 days,” Zelensky posted on X. “We propose it begin on Monday, May 12. We are waiting for Russia’s response.

“This proposal has been on the table since the talks in Saudi Arabia, when it was first put forward by the United States. Once the ceasefire begins, there will be the best moment for diplomacy. Ukraine is ready for meetings and negotiations in any format.”

The proposal was dismissed by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Saturday, who said via the Russian news agency Interfax that he hears “many contradictory statements from Europe. They are generally confrontational in nature rather than aimed at trying to revive our relations. Nothing more.”

Peskov earlier said Russia would only agree to a cease-fire if U.S. and European ends arms supplies to Ukraine.

“Otherwise, it will be an advantage for Ukraine,” he told ABC News. “Ukraine will continue their total mobilization, bringing new troops to frontline,”

Putin also wants Ukraine to surrender large parts of the eastern and southern regions of its country that Russian forces haven’t seized.

“Macron, Merz, Starmer and Tusk were supposed to discuss peace in Kyiv. Instead, they are blurting out threats against Russia,” Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, the BBC reported.

The four European leaders made their first joint appearance in a virtual meeting of the “coalition of the willing,” which includes mostly European nations. They said they would assist Ukraine if there is a durable cease-fire in the now 3-year long war, which started when Russia attacked it’s neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.

Joining in the video link were Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Macron said “some 20 countries” are in “unanimity” about the cease-fire, referring to Ukraine as “the beating heart of Europe.” He said once the cease-fire is agreed, there are a “number of steps we’re working on.” That includes strengthening Ukraine’s army.

“All of us here, together with the U.S., are calling Putin out. If he’s serious about peace then he has a chance to show it now,” Starmer said.

Merz, who assumed office on Tuesday, said Saturday that if Russia rejects the ceasefire proposal, Europe will keep defending Ukraine.

Macron documented the leaders’ journey by train on Instagram, including traveling through Poland, and posted a video of the group with Zelensky and Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska visiting a memorial to the war dead in central Kyiv. Macron and Starmer also joined Zelensky in a visit to the Saint Sophia Cathedral.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it was “symbolic” to meet in Kyiv and showed the “the strength of our unity.”

Putin had declared a three-day cease-fire, which ended on Saturday, although Russia had not followed by it — similar to what happened during a one-day Easter truce Russia implemented last month.

Ukraine and Russia traded accusations of violating cease-fire that ceasefire, as well, with Zelensky accusing Russia of nearly 3,000 violations and Russia claiming Ukraine violated the halt more than 1,000 times.