Zelenskyy warns Putin wants to occupy all of Ukraine – DW – 09

09/12/2025 September 12, 2025 US signals commitment to defending NATO territory after Russian drone incursion

Washington's ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea, on Friday told the UN Security Council that the United States would "defend every inch of NATO territory," as the Council discussed a Russian drone incursion into Poland earlier this week.

The incident has set off alarm bells among European leaders who have called the incident an intentional Russian escalation.

The 19 drones were shot down by NATO aircraftearly Wednesday. It is the first time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that Russian military hardware has been destroyed on the territory of a NATO member state.

"These actions, now with the addition of violating the airspace of a US ally — intentionally or otherwise — show immense disrespect for good-faith US efforts to bring an end to this conflict," Shea told the Council.

Russia has denied sending the drones into Poland and maintains it was attacking Ukraine at the time of the drone incursions.

"There were no targets marked on Polish territory," Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said, adding that it would have been "physically impossible" for the drones used in the strikes to have reached Polish territory.

"We know that it was not a mistake," Poland's Secretary of State Marcin Bosacki told the Council. He showed photos of a downed drone, pointing out Russian lettering on parts of it.

Shea's statement also lamented Russia's increased strikes on Ukraine following a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month. Trump has signaled frustration with Russia as he tries to mediate an end to the war.

The US also signed a joint statement, read by Bosacki ahead of the Security Council meeting, on Friday that expressed concern about the drone incursion, accused Moscow of violating international law, while calling on Russia to stop "its war of aggression against Ukraine."