Poland: Russia Planning Strikes on NATO09/18 06:25

   

   WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Thursday 
that Russia is planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European 
countries supporting Ukraine, among them Poland.

   Russia will pretend the attacks are "accidental" in order to "paralyze or at 
least weaken the motivation of NATO countries" to rush to the defense of the 
member state coming under attack, Tusk said in a speech to the Polish 
parliament.

   "There is a real risk that drones or other types of projectiles will enter 
the territory of one or several countries on the eastern flank and even cause 
destruction," Tusk warned.

   "The official narration will be that it's an accident and there is no reason 
for NATO to think about a response," he added.

   He said Russia was more dangerous because it was increasingly using 
jet-powered drones, which fly higher and faster and thus are more difficult to 
detect by air defense before reaching their targets.

   Tusk has been for months warning that Russia might be preparing a more 
serious hybrid attack against a NATO country. His warnings have gotten 
increasingly specific as he received intelligence from NATO, Ukrainian and U.S. 
secret services, including the CIA, he said.

   In recent days, Tusk has said Russia was now focusing on attacking border 
crossings between Ukraine and its European neighbors in order to disrupt 
delivery lines to Ukraine. Four such incidents happened on Poland's border with 
Ukraine in the past week and several others took place in the last weeks on 
Ukraine's border with Moldova.

   Tusk said at the moment Russia was not ready for any peace talks "without 
the total capitulation of Ukraine."

   "They are convinced the winter will be tragically critical for Ukraine," 
Tusk said. He said last winter Poland stepped in with deliveries when Ukraine's 
energy infrastructure came under attack, but if border crossings are destroyed, 
it will be much harder for Warsaw to offer such help this upcoming winter.

   "Russia's goal is to destroy as much as possible the economy and logistics 
of Ukraine," Tusk said, adding that intelligence indicates continuous attacks 
of "very high frequency and intensity" on six main Ukrainian cities should be 
expected in the near future.

   Tusk announced on Thursday he would travel to Ukraine overnight to Friday, 
in what can be seen as an act of defiance against Russia after European leaders 
narrowly escaped a drone strike on a train near the Polish-Ukrainian border on 
Sunday. Officials usually keep their travel plans to Ukraine secret for 
security reasons.

   In Kyiv, he said he would discuss with Ukrainian President Volodymyr 
Zelenskyy how to defend against the new types of drones as well as discuss with 
partners including Slovakia about further sanctions against Russia.

   On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that "major 
progress is being made toward establishing a U.S. Army base in Poland" after a 
U.S. delegation was in Poland last week to visit several possible locations.

   "If this happens, the location will be announced very soon," Trump wrote. 
"This will be a historic step for our Great U.S./Polish Alliance."

   Poland has for years sought to host a permanent U.S. base as a strong 
guarantee of its security in the face of the rising Russian threat.

   Poland's high defense spending and major U.S. arms purchases have persuaded 
the Trump administration to consider putting a permanent base in Poland even as 
it reorganizes and reduces its overall military presence in Europe.

   In May, the U.S. unexpectedly withdrew troops from the total of around 
10,000 stationed in Poland, causing confusion among European allies and 
nervousness in Warsaw. But officials in both Poland and the U.S. soon said the 
withdrawal was temporary and Poland was not expected to suffer from the U.S. 
troop reorganization.