NATO Could Defeat Russia ‘Quite Quickly’ If Attacked, Polish FM Says
KYIV, UKRAINE — WEB DESK: Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said NATO could defeat Russia “quite quickly” if Moscow launched an attack on the alliance, arguing that NATO maintains overwhelming superiority in air power.
Sikorski made the remarks during the annual Yalta European Strategy meeting in Kyiv on September 12, according to reports published on Monday. Express Urdu reported that the Polish foreign minister said Europe also possesses the capability to severely damage Russia’s remaining oil-refining capacity within weeks.
Sikorski argued that NATO’s advantage in air power would be decisive in the event of a direct Russian attack. He estimated the alliance’s available air strength at roughly 2,500 aircraft.
He added that NATO’s conventional capabilities would remain formidable even without direct US participation, pointing to European access to advanced systems including F-35 fighter aircraft, JASSM missiles and other long-range strike capabilities.
Sikorski also compared Europe’s potential strike capacity with Ukraine’s campaign against Russian energy infrastructure. He argued that if Ukraine could inflict substantial damage on Russian refining capacity over several months, European forces could potentially destroy the remaining capacity much faster.
The comments should be understood as Sikorski’s assessment of a hypothetical NATO-Russia conflict, rather than an announcement of planned NATO military action.
His remarks come amid particularly high security tensions between Russia and NATO’s eastern members. On Monday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened senior ministers, military officials and intelligence chiefs following a Russian strike on a passenger train near the Polish-Ukrainian border. Tusk warned that continued escalation could eventually affect Polish territory and said Poland and its NATO allies must be prepared to respond jointly if necessary.
Poland has emerged as one of Ukraine’s important European supporters since Russia’s full-scale invasion and has repeatedly called for stronger European defence capabilities.
A direct attack on a NATO member would carry considerably wider implications because the alliance’s collective-defence framework treats an armed attack against one member as an attack against all. Sikorski’s remarks therefore underline Warsaw’s effort to project deterrence as European governments continue to assess the risk of a broader confrontation with Moscow.
