The White House reacts to the downing of Russian drones in two NATO countries

The White House stated that during the war in Ukraine, fragments of missiles or drones sometimes fall on the territory of neighboring countries, and this phenomenon is not new, although it indicates the danger of Putin’s war.

John Kirby, the Strategic Communications Coordinator of the US National Security Council, made this statement.

Kirby was commenting on Russian combat drones’ latest violations of Latvia and Romania’s airspace, two NATO countries.

“This is, unfortunately, not a new development, as it happened over the course of the war in Ukraine where missile fragments or drone fragments sometimes get caught up in the combat and the air combat and land in a neighboring nation. We are watching this closely,” Kirby said.

He added that the United States is in close contact with allies and partners on this issue. 

“But this just underscores the danger that Putin’s war in Ukraine has caused for the entire European continent and the fact that the security landscape has changed—not changed, not going to change, but has changed—which is why we are doing everything we can to make sure that Ukraine is able to defend itself,” Kirby said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote that the West should respond with increased support for Ukraine after the recent incidents with Russian drones crashing in Latvia and Romania.

On September 9, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned a chargé d’affaires to Russia in connection with the Russian drone spotted last week in the east of the country.

NATO commented that it had no information that the Russian drone had entered Latvian territory on purpose.