NATO chief Rutte insists Western allies won’t be intimidated by Russian assaults meant to ‘scare’ them off.
Printed On 14 Sep 2026
NATO Secretary-Basic Mark Rutte has pledged further help for Ukraine after Russian drone strikes hit near the border with Poland.
Rutte insisted on Monday that the 32-nation navy alliance won’t be deterred from backing Kyiv within the Russia-Ukraine battle, and that it’s going to beef up its personal defences alongside the jap border with Russia.
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The NATO chief’s feedback got here as Poland pledged elevated safety alongside its border with Ukraine. On Sunday, Russian drones hit a prepare near the Ukraine-Poland border and a second strike hit shut to a different crossing level.
The strike that hit the prepare got here minutes after a diplomatic delegation that included former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt had handed by means of the station, in line with Ukraine’s state rail operator.
“The strikes yesterday on trains in Ukraine near NATO territory once more present Putin’s desperation and likewise his need to sow concern and terror,” Rutte mentioned at NATO’s political headquarters in Brussels. “Russia is rising more and more reckless because it continues its horrible battle towards Ukraine.”
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz mentioned on Monday that the Polish military had additionally recovered what was believed to be a Russian navy drone from the Baltic Sea close to the coastal village of Jaroslawiec.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s prime diplomat, mentioned the assaults near the Polish border had been “clearly meant to scare Western international locations from supporting Ukraine,” and added: “We should always present that we’re there for Ukraine and we’re not scared.”
Requested in regards to the strike on the prepare, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned Russian forces had been working “throughout all the territory of Ukraine … and can proceed to take action”.
Spillover fears
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Sunday that Moscow seems poised to accentuate its marketing campaign concentrating on Ukraine’s western borders.
“These coming weeks and months will probably be a time of very intensified actions on the Russian aspect, and sadly we can not rule out that this escalation can even have an effect on our territory,” Tusk mentioned as he emerged from a safety briefing in Warsaw.
Polish officers have mentioned intelligence experiences, together with a CIA briefing final week, counsel that Russia is more likely to assault border factors and intensify sabotage actions inside European international locations as a part of its efforts to discourage states from supporting Ukraine.
Tusk mentioned he would seek the advice of NATO allies on making ready a possible joint response.
Trump returns to the desk
In the meantime, United States President Donald Trump mentioned that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to not hit one another’s vitality infrastructure.
The US president has just lately appeared able to revive efforts to dealer peace, albeit persevering with to counsel he leans in the direction of the Russian narrative on the battle.
The price of diesel gasoline specifically has come into focus as inflation continues to dent Trump’s reputation forward of the US midterm elections in November. Ukraine has discovered important success in concentrating on Russia’s oil refining infrastructure in latest months.
“Ukraine has agreed to not hit Russian Power targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!” Trump wrote on social media.
Regardless of the US’s continued battle on Iran, the US president has mentioned he believes the hike in diesel fuel prices is attributable to the battle in Ukraine.
Nonetheless, neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed the declare.
Russian forces hit two cargo vessels within the Black Sea on Monday, the Interfax information company reported. One individual was killed and one other was injured throughout assaults on Russia’s Belgorod area, which borders Ukraine, native authorities mentioned.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed on Monday {that a} de-escalating step regarding important infrastructure may very well be “a first step in the direction of peace”.
Ukraine is prepared to halt strikes on Russia if its companions be certain that Moscow will chorus from hitting Ukrainian vitality services, infrastructure and meals provide routes, he mentioned.
The Ukrainian chief has beforehand instructed that mutual strikes may very well be paused as a primary step in the direction of halting hostilities. Nonetheless, the Kremlin has persistently insisted that Ukraine should hand over territory and demilitarise earlier than halting it can finish its assaults.
