Officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, centre, and U.S. special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, third from right, observe a minute of silence on Friday for fallen Ukrainian soldiers during the annual Yalta European Strategy meeting in Kyiv.Supplied/AFP/Getty Images
Romania said NATO fighter jets were scrambled Saturday night after a Russian attack drone entered the country’s airspace, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia was testing the alliance.
Romanian Defence Minister Ionut Mosteanu said a single Russian drone flew low over the country’s territory, and that two Romanian F-16s and two German Eurofighters had been close to opening fire when the drone disappeared from radar, likely turning back into Ukraine.
Residents of the southeastern county of Tulcea near the Ukrainian border were warned to take cover during the incident.
Mr. Zelensky − who has expressed exasperation over NATO’s reluctance to aid Ukrainian air defences by shooting down Russian drones that cross into NATO territory − wrote on social media that the drone had gone 10 kilometres deep into Romanian airspace, and operated there for 50 minutes.
Poland also closed the airport in its eastern city of Lublin on Saturday in response to Russian drones flying over the adjacent regions of Ukraine.
The drone that crossed into Romania was one of 58 that were launched at Ukrainian cities Saturday night, nearly all of which were shot down.
The intrusion into Romanian airspace took place during the same week that an unprecedented 19 Russian drones flew into Poland, forcing Polish and Dutch fighter jets to shoot several down in the first-ever instance of North Atlantic Treaty Organization armies firing directly at Russian military hardware.
In the aftermath, Poland invoked Article 4 of the NATO treaty, which calls for consultations whenever the territory of a member state is threatened.
What is Article 4, the treaty provision invoked by Poland after Russian drone incursions?
On Friday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced the start of a new military operation, Eastern Sentry, that will see additional fighter jets and air-defence systems deployed along the alliance’s eastern frontier in Poland and the Baltic states.
But remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump − who suggested the Russian incursion “could have been a mistake” − have underscored divisions within the alliance.
In a separate social-media posting on Saturday, Mr. Trump said he was willing to introduce “major” new sanctions on Russia, but only once NATO countries ended their purchases of Russian oil.
He also called for NATO to collectively slap 50- to 100-per-cent tariffs on China until the war is over. Beijing has increased its trade with Moscow to record levels since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
But Mr. Trump seemed more impatient with his country’s allies than with Russia or China.
“If NATO does as I say, the WAR will end quickly, and all of those lives will be saved! If not, you are just wasting my time, and the time, energy, and money of the United States,” he wrote, referring to the war in Ukraine, which Mr. Trump has made sputtering efforts to try to resolve.
Tusk described Russia's action as 'a large-scale provocation,' carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine. The drones were shot down over Poland's territory with help from NATO allies.
The Associated Press
Mr. Zelensky, whose country is not a member of NATO, made it clear that he was underwhelmed by the alliance’s reaction to the incursions. He warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would push even further if he didn’t see a stiffer response.
“NATO countries are mobilizing military aircraft – but a couple of days go by, and this ceases to be a topic of conversation. And what are the consequences for Russia? Let’s be honest, none,” Mr. Zelensky told the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kyiv.
“Nobody wants to expand the war. Nobody wants to talk about that … we are simply warning that a strong response is needed.”
Mr. Zelensky said he hoped the alliance would respond to the drone incursions by giving Ukraine the military and financial assistance it needs not only to shoot down Russian drones and missiles, but to strike deep into Russia at the factories where the kamikaze drones are produced.
Russia reported on Sunday that it had shot down 361 Ukrainian drones over the previous 24 hours, with an explosion and fire reported at an oil refinery in the Bashkortostan region, 1,400 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, who also attended the YES conference, agreed that the alliance needed to show its resolve, and said he hoped to see a stronger line from the United States in particular.
“We hope the United States will join other allies in solidarity,” Mr. Sikorski said. “We need to collectively show Putin that there are limits to his hybrid war, where we will stop him. Because remember, this is not an isolated incident. It’s part of a pattern.”
The annual YES conference is organized by the foundation of Victor Pinchuk, one of Ukraine’s most powerful businessmen. This year’s event was held under high security and extreme secrecy, with all reporting prohibited until the end of the two-day conference, when high-profile foreign guests had already departed Kyiv on Saturday.
Among the attendees was Keith Kellogg, Mr. Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, who alternated between suggesting that peace was almost within reach, and referencing the negotiations in Paris that led to the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War – a painstaking process that took five years.
“We thought it was going to be easier to solve than it’s turned out to be,” Mr. Kellogg said of the effort to make peace in Ukraine, which last month saw Mr. Trump invite Mr. Putin to a summit meeting in Alaska.
The conference included a salute to former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien, who – at the age of 91 – took an overnight train ride into a war zone to attend this year’s event. Mr. Chrétien addressed the first ever YES conference in 1994.
Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland, a well-known figure in Kyiv because of her Ukrainian heritage, also made the trip and moderated several panels.
“I want to congratulate the government and the people of Ukraine for the big fight they have put up,” Mr. Chrétien said in brief remarks after being introduced by Ms. Freeland. “Keep up the fight.”
Such inspirational words were undercut by the remarks of British historian Niall Ferguson, who said that many attendees seemed not to grasp that the U.S. was no longer actively supporting Ukraine.
Mr. Ferguson told the conference that unless the European Union greatly increased its support for the war effort, he could see history repeating itself, with Russia “grinding out a victory,” while losing large numbers of people, just as it has in previous wars.