Drone Attacks Enter Poland, Lithuania Worried About Risks Of Military Force Competition

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutitis Budrys/PHOTO via Instagram @budrys_kestutitis

JAKARTA - Russian drone attacks on NATO member countries are at risk of escalating into military forces against each other.

This was conveyed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lithuania Kestutitis Budrys to Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, September 10.

Poland shot down a drone entering its airspace in a massive Russian attack on western Ukraine on Wednesday. The NATO member called the attack an "action of aggression" and marked the alliance's first time members opened fire in the war.

"No one is safe here, nothing is safe in this area, nothing is safe in Europe and within this alliance, because these incidents are very close to situations where things will increase," Budrys said.

"We have strong interests - perhaps the strongest and largest - to avoid these scenarios. Scenarios like the ones we are experiencing in some situations where we use each other's military forces," he said when asked if such incidents were at risk of dragging NATO into direct conflict with Russia.

The Baltic state, a member of NATO and the European Union bordering Russia and its Belarus ally, has not yet received confirmation of a Russian drone attack on neighboring Poland on purpose.

Russia has a responsibility to prevent military drones from flying to NATO. Meanwhile, NATO must send a strong message to Russia "they are facing something that can increase," Budrys said.

"This is in the interest of all parties, including Russia," the minister said.

NATO continued, it must also seek to increase air defenses in the Baltic area and in Poland, all of which borders Russia or Belarus.