German Foreign Minister Johann Wadeful said that Russia must be put under more pressure after the latest violations of Polish airspace and the incidents in Romania, and warned Moscow that NATO would react decisively, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
“Russia must know - we will always react. We will not allow ourselves to be put under further military pressure“, Wadeful said in an interview with public television ZDF. "We will deploy our forces, and the economic and political forces of the free world are powerful," he added.
Vadeful also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "testing" the West and has no interest in ending the war in Ukraine.
"He is not accepting any proposals for negotiations. It is clear that he does not want to end the war in Ukraine for now. He is going beyond that and we must respond clearly and remain united," Vadeful said.
The minister supported tougher sanctions against Russia, but stressed that NATO's defenses along the alliance's eastern border must be strengthened, especially air defense systems capable of reacting more quickly. He said the systems, currently based in Greece and Spain, could be moved to NATO's eastern flank.
Drones entered Polish airspace on Tuesday into Wednesday during attacks on neighboring Ukraine, prompting a response from the Polish air force and NATO forces, which shot down the drones. Additional incidents were reported in Poland and Romania on Saturday.