NATO would strike back if Russia attacks, Polish FM says he warned Moscow

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski says he has personally warned Russian officials that Polish response to a possible attack from Moscow would include both offensive and defensive actions, according to an episode of the program Front Sikorskiego.

Sikorski's disclosure comes as European governments step up preparations for possible Russian attacks and provocations. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on 17 September that intelligence assessments indicated Russia could stage drone or missile attacks against countries supporting Ukraine in the coming months, while Lithuania said it had access to the same intelligence.

Sikorski says he has told Russian officials to "be careful, because we have more combat aircraft than you do."

"So if you do something that no one wants, we won't just sit back and do nothing. We will respond both defensively and offensively," Sikorski stresses.

He frames the warning as deterrence and points to Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refining infrastructure as an example of what air power can achieve. Ukraine has destroyed what Sikorski described as 30–40% of Russia's oil refining capacity, he says, arguing that European air forces could accomplish far more.

European governments prepare for Russian provocations

Tusk said Russia could try to present such attacks as accidents in an effort to weaken NATO's willingness to respond. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys confirmed the following day that his country had the same intelligence and said officials had discussed the possibility of a Russian false-flag operation, according to Delfi.

France has also moved to prepare for possible Russian hybrid attacks. President Emmanuel Macron ordered a plan to protect critical infrastructure and sensitive defense-industry sites from drone and cyberattacks, the Kyiv Independent reported, after saying the Russian hybrid threat had intensified. "The day we are attacked physically, we will not be warned," Macron said.

Sikorski did not say when he delivered the warning or which Russian officials received it.