US on Russia's intrusion into Polish airspace: 'We will defend every inch of NATO territory'

The U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Matthew Whitaker, took aim at Russia after the Kremlin put the alliance's integrity at risk by violating Poland's airspace with the dispatch of several drones.

Through a message on X, Whitaker was clear in defining what the U.S. objective is and how they will respond to a possible Russian attack against NATO.

"We stand by our NATO allies in the face of these airspace violations and will defend every inch of NATO territory," Whitaker said.

On Wednesday, Warsaw denounced that Russia  "repeatedly" violated its airspace while attacking Ukrainian positions near the border with Poland.

"During today's attack carried out by the Russian Federation on targets located on Ukrainian territory, our airspace was repeatedly violated by drones," said the Polish Army, which activated its anti-aircraft defenses to shoot down the Russian drones.

The Kremlin's action prompted Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, a tool designed for times when the territorial integrity, political independence or security of a member state of the Transatlantic Alliance is threatened.

The European Union (EU) and NATO positioned themselves along the same lines as Whitaker,  denouncing the violation as a "dangerous" and "unprecedented" invasion of Polish airspace by Russia.

"Whether it was intentional or not, it is absolutely reckless, it is absolutely dangerous," stressed Mark Rutte, NATO secretary general. Words also used by the president of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen.