US threatens ‘full force’ as Russian missile strikes land near NATO member, Poland

The United States has warned Russia it would face North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO’s) “full force” if attacks on Ukraine strayed beyond the border after Vladimir Putin on Sunday brought his war to within 25 kilometres of Poland with a missile strike on foreign fighters, National Post reports.

Russia had bragged that it killed “up to 180” foreign fighters and destroyed a cache of weaponry given by the West, after destroying the site that was within 25 kilometres of Poland.

Jake Sullivan, White House national security advisor suggested NATO might go to war with Russia if Moscow inadvertently hit NATO territory in Poland.

“If there is a military attack on NATO territory, it would bring the full force of the NATO alliance to bear in responding to it,” he said.

This came after Michael Gove, a United Kingdom Cabinet minister, warned that Putin was “pushing the boundaries”.

He called the targeting of the International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security in Yavoriv, which had previously been utilized by NATO troops to train Ukrainian soldiers, a “significant” event, although no NATO forces were present at the time of the incident.

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish Prime Minister, said that the Russian strike on the base near the Polish border was intended to cause panic among the civilian population.

“A missile attack just 20 km from our border shows how Russia operates; (Russia) wants to create panic among the civilian population,” Morawiecki said at a joint media conference with his counterparts from Ukraine and Lithuania.