Moscow has the ability to strike “deep into Europe”, Poland’s foreign minister has warned, as he told European leaders it would be “irresponsible” not to build a drone wall on the eastern flank of the continent.
Speaking in London on Tuesday, Radoslaw Sikorski unveiled a Russian-flown Shahed-136 drone downed in Ukraine and urged leaders to pledge support to Ukraine for at least the next three years.
He said Ukraine was planning resources to fight for the next three years and that Western leaders “need to convince Putin that we are ready to stay the course for at least those three years”.
Mr Sikorski added he hoped US president Donald Trump would make long-range Tomahawk missiles available to the country to bolster strikes against Russian infrastructure.
It comes after Mr Trump suggested he may be willing to provide Ukraine access to the US-made long-range missiles, with President Zelensky set to travel to Washington for further talks on Friday.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the US president said: “Yeah, I might tell him [Putin], if the war is not settled, we may very well do it.
“We may not, but we may do it… do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”
Tomahawks could be incredibly valuable to Ukraine as they would allow its military to strike targets in Russia up to 1,000 miles (1,600km) away, adding significantly to Kyiv’s arsenal.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has previously said such a move would seriously damage relations between Washington and Moscow.
Mr Sikorski’s plea comes amid warnings from experts over a sharp fall in military aid being provided to Ukraine over the summer. In a report published on Tuesday, German think tank the Kiel Institute said military assistance has fallen 43 per cent since the beginning of 2025, despite renewed Nato initiatives such as the prioritised Ukraine requirements list (Purl).
Leaders are set to discuss the fourth generation of the package, which provides weapons to Kyiv, on Wednesday as Nato defence ministers meet in Brussels. Speaking ahead of the discussions, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the US expects countries to invest more into the initiative for Ukraine.
Nato chief Mark Rutte said on Wednesday morning the military alliance and the European Union were working together in their efforts to set up a drone wall, as called for by Mr Sikorski.
Britain’s defence secretary John Healey said his country’s jets will keep flying over Poland until the end of this year in an extension to the British commitment on the eastern flank. “We are also ramping up our drone production for Ukraine,” he told reporters before attending the Nato meeting.
