Ukraine wants Poland to protect its skies near Ukraine’s border

Ukraine's deputy parliament speaker has called on Poland to consider using its air defenses to protect Ukrainian airspace near the Polish border, reports Euractive. The request was made during a meeting on 6 July in Vilnius between parliamentary representatives from Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania. "If NATO is not ready to admit Ukraine during the war, we have to demand that the allies ensure sufficient measures to stop and overcome the enemy," Olena Kondratyuk, deputy speaker of Ukraine's Supreme Council, wrote on Facebook. Kondratyuk asked her Polish counterpart, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, to consider deploying Polish air defenses to protect Ukrainian border regions. She also requested that Lithuania's parliament speaker, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, present this proposal at an upcoming meeting of NATO parliamentary speakers. On the night of 8 July, Russian forces launched an air attack on Ukraine. The Ukrainian military warned of potential cruise missile launches from Russian bombers expected to enter Ukrainian airspace after 2:00 am. In response, Poland reportedly scrambled aircraft due to the Russian attack on Ukraine, according to the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces.

The Ukrainian official also expressed gratitude to her Polish and Lithuanian colleagues who support Ukraine's aspirations for NATO and EU membership. However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly said that Ukraine joining the alliance before the end of the war is unlikely.

During a visit to Kyiv in late April, Stoltenberg affirmed that "Ukraine's rightful place is in NATO" and noted the country's "irreversible path" toward membership. Nevertheless, he has consistently ruled out sending NATO troops to fight in Ukraine, emphasizing that the alliance is not directly involved in the conflict.

Read also:

• Russia struck children’s hospital in Kyiv with Kh-101 missile, SBU says
• Russian missile barrage devastates Kyiv children’s hospital, kills dozens across Ukraine
• Russia launches massive missile assault, killing some 20 civilians, injuring at least 50
• Stoltenberg: Ukraine aid “most urgent” at upcoming NATO summit