Lithuanian FM warns Russian drone incursions threaten NATO security “No-one is safe within alliance”

Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Kestutis Budrys has warned that Russia’s drone incursions into NATO territory risk escalating into the “exchange (of) the use of military power against each other,” in an interview with foreign media, deliberately avoiding the term “conflict.”

According to Caliber.Az, warning comes after Poland shot down drones that entered its airspace during a widespread Russian offensive in western Ukraine, marking the first instance of a NATO member firing in the war. Poland described the drone incursions as “an act of aggression.”

“No one is safe here, no one is safe in the region, no one is safe in Europe and within the alliance, because those incidents are very close to the situations when everything is going to escalate,” Budrys said.

Asked whether such incidents could draw NATO into a direct confrontation with Russia, he added: “We have a strong interest - probably the strongest and biggest one - to avoid these scenarios... Scenarios like we are getting in some situations where we exchange the use of military power against each other."

Budrys, whose country borders both Russia and Belarus, said Lithuania had not received confirmation that the drone incursion into neighbouring Poland was intentional.

“Russia has the responsibility to avoid military drones flying into NATO territory, and NATO must send a ‘strong message to Russia that they're dealing with something that can escalate,’” he said.

“It is in everyone's interest to avoid this, Russia's also,” Budrys added.

The minister also called for NATO to strengthen air defences in the Baltic states and Poland, all of which share borders with Russia or Belarus.

By Aghakazim Guliyev