Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said in a Monday interview with CNN, held on the eve of the NATO summit, that his public warnings about possible Russian provocations were meant to deter Russia from carrying out such an act against Poland. He said Russia lacks the strength for a frontal attack on NATO and that any such intent would be visible in troop movements, but that a "false flag operation" remains possible.
"What they are capable of is some kind of false-flag provocation using drones — perhaps Ukrainian drones — and then pretending to respond to our fake, nonexistent attack", Sikorski said. "They play these kinds of games, we have to be prepared for that. We have to tell them, and that's what we're doing, that we know these are not leading to anything good", he added.
He recalled 2022 warnings from US intelligence that Russia was preparing provocations to create a pretext for invading Ukraine. "That stopped the Russians from actually doing it [fabricating a false pretext", Sikorski said. "So I hope these warnings mean Putin won't press the provocation button", he added.
Sikorski said Warsaw continues to trust American security guarantees and is seeking a second permanent US base on Polish territory, in addition to the one in Redzikowo, even as further reductions of US troops in Europe are "clearly coming".
Asked whether a demonstration of NATO unity is possible in Ankara given that the US president has publicly attacked allied leaders, Sikorski said "you can argue about spending levels and still be good allies". He argued the alliance "is stronger than it has been since Russia attacked Ukraine", pointing to the accession of Finland and Sweden and a sharp rise in European defense spending, partly under pressure from President Trump.
Asked directly whether Poland shares doubts expressed elsewhere in Europe about the reliability of US security guarantees, Sikorski said: "Yes, we have trust. We have American troops on our soil and we're asking for more, including a second permanent base. We already have a missile defense base that protects mainly America, but also Europe".
Responding to the argument that some allies complain of a lack of concrete benefits in exchange for rising spending, Sikorski said: "If someone really thinks that means trusting the US less, then they should spend more on defense, don't you think?"
Referring to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth's announcements of further reductions in the US military presence in Europe, Sikorski acknowledged that "reductions are clearly coming" and that the United States "requires us in Europe to have greater conventional capabilities", while positioning itself as the "cavalry over the hill". He added that even with US troops shifting to other regions, Europe would continue to benefit from American presence and support, including logistics and intelligence.
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Source: Polish Radio