Russian Drones: Violation of Polish Airspace Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateRichard Foord
Main Page: Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat - Honiton and Sidmouth)Department Debates - View all Richard Foord's debates with the Ministry of Defence
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
Commons ChamberUrgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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As mentioned previously, we have to continue to push and pressure Putin to bring him to the peace table, through a whole suite of different capabilities, from providing arms to Ukraine all the way through to sanctions. We will continue to do that.
The Russian drones over Poland were tracked by Polish aircraft but also by Dutch aircraft stationed in Poland. That reminds us that four years ago Putin sought a roll-back in NATO deployments from central and eastern Europe. In 2021 Russia outrageously demanded that NATO allies deploy no forces in countries that joined the alliance after 1997. Does the Minister agree that had the US acceded to those demands, we might be seeing devastating consequences in Poland today?
It is so interesting when we talk about deterrence. There are huge multinational NATO exercises that take place every year. I was the chief of staff of the carrier strike group in 2021, on the date the hon. Gentleman mentioned. That was called Cold Response, which was the biggest naval exercise to the High North in several years. We demonstrate to Russia on multiple different occasions how effective the NATO alliance is and, if called to, how it will fight and win.