White House Reacts to Russian Drones Violating Romanian Airspace

The White House said on Monday that during the fighting in Ukraine, fragments of missiles or drones sometimes fall on the territory of neighboring countries, and this is not a new phenomenon, but it indicates the danger represented by Putin’s war.

At a press briefing on Monday, John Kirby, coordinator of strategic communications for the US National Security Council, was asked to comment on the latest incident of violation of the airspace of two NATO countries, Romania and Latvia, by Russian combat drones, which took place over the weekend.

“Unfortunately, this is not a new development, it happened before during the war in Ukraine when fragments of missiles or drones are sometimes caught in aerial collisions and fall on the territory of a neighboring country,” stated Kirby.

“We’re watching this very closely, as you can imagine,” he added.

Kirby stated that the United States is in close contact with allies and partners on this issue. “But (the incident) only highlights the danger that Putin’s war in Ukraine has caused for the entire European continent and the fact that the security landscape has changed – it is not changing, it will not change, it has changed – which is why we are doing everything we can to ensure that Ukraine is able to defend itself,” Kirby pointed out.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sîbiga said the West should respond with increased support for Ukraine after the recent incidents of Russian drones downed in Latvia and Romania.

The Latvian Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned a chargé d’affaires to Russia in connection with the Russian drone spotted last week in the east of the country.

In its turn, NATO declared that it has no information according to which the Russian drone would have intentionally penetrated the territory of Romania.