Shooting down Russian missiles and drones will drag West into war, says Pentagon

NATO allies will not shoot down missiles or drones over Ukraine to avoid being drawn into a war with Russia, Pentagon Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina Singh said at a briefing.

When asked to comment on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's call for NATO countries to help Ukraine shoot down Russian air targets, similar to how it is done over Israel, she said: "We are talking about two very different landscapes and battlefields".

The Pentagon spokesperson stressed that Ukraine has successfully used air defense systems and other capabilities to continue reclaiming its territories.

"President Biden has made it clear that the United States is not putting boots on the ground into Ukraine, but we are supporting Ukraine in their efforts to take back their sovereign territory," she added.

When asked if shooting down enemy targets from the territory of Romania or Poland would be considered "putting boots on the ground," Singh responded that such actions would draw Western countries into the war.

"That would be involving us in a war in a different way. And right now, we feel that Ukraine has been able to successfully defend against Russian strikes to their cities, to their populations, to their infrastructure. And we're going to continue to make sure that they have the support that they need to do that," she said.

On July 8, 2024, Polish PM Donald Tusk and Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bilateral agreement that includes a proposal for Poland to shoot down Russian missiles. Tusk noted that this is still just an idea and stressed that such actions would require collective responsibility from NATO.

On July 10, the Polish defense minister stated that the country cannot fulfill Kyiv's request without a decision from the entire NATO alliance, and such consensus does not currently exist within the alliance.