Jonathan Kearsley: US correspondent on Poland shooting down Russian drones

Poland's shot down drones over its territory after repeated violations of its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine. 

It's shut four of its airports after warning of the drones in its airspace.

US correspondent Jonathan Kearsley says this has sparked concern among NATO nations, with investigations ongoing.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
International Correspondence with Ends and Eye Insurance, Peace of Mind
for New Zealand Business.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Jonathan Kursley, US correspondence with US.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hey, Jonathan Heather, are always good talking to the listeners now.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
But cheeky of Russia to be flowing the drones around Poland.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Yeah, a little bit cheeky for them, particularly after this
summit with Donald Trump a matter of a week, a
few weeks or so ago. Look, yes, we're seeing reports
of Russian drones, Rainian drones fined by Russia into Poland airspace.
It sparked a lot of reaction from nay donations. We
saw fighter jets scrambled, Poland airports closed. Still some sort

(00:39):
of investigation as to whether these actually are Russian drones
going into Poland airspace. It would be incredibly serious. You've
got to keep in mind Article five of NATA that
says essentially an attack on one is an attack on all.
So this is going to be very much a wash
this space. What is Russia's explanation for these drones going
into Poland air space? What is the response, what is

(01:00):
the reason behind sending in NATO fighter jets essentially to
try and scramble into the airspace. It's very much a
fraught situation, given the conflict in Ukraine, given the meeting
we saw with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. But we
keep saying the US president has given Russian President Vladimir
Putin time and time and time and time again to
try and resolve this conflict. He showed no intention of

(01:21):
doing so. And yet again we're seeing another move. Is
this being fraught with danger? Is this a move to
try and test NATO? We're going to see a reaction,
likely out of Moscow in the coming out.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, I just you know, I can't help but shake
the feel I can't. I can't shake the feeling that
Putin is taunting Trump because he is. Since the meeting
in Alaska, there has been no indication that Putin intends
to meet with Zelensky, And if anything, he's kind of
pushing the line again, isn't he.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Well, he's very much pushing the line. I mean, you
look at the offer he made to Vladimir Zelenski, which
has come to Moscow, which is essentially, if you like,
that's some sort of suicide mission for the Ukrainian president,
the idea that he would go into Moscow for talks
to Flatimir, who is just completely off the cards. It's
just not going to happen. So the offer he's put
on the table is not viable. And now we're seeing
the possibility he's taunting nater nations with this idea of

(02:10):
sending drones and pushing that boundary once again. So what
is the response going to be? I mean, we're sending
the US President out at dinner tonight in Washington, DC,
essentially trying to say he's making Washington DC streets saved
enough to go and eat dinner there. I've been there
in months gone by, and certainly it's been safe to
go out and eat dinner. There's been no idea that
you can't go into a restaurant. There's been no idea

(02:31):
you can't go and have a meal with friends. But
the US President is certainly trying to make his stance
that he is making Americans safer. But his idea of
solving the Russia U Crank conflict certainly seems well a
long way away from what he initially thought.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Anyway, Now, did the White House warn katat ll not, Well.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
You're essentially getting washed in mixed messaging here. I mean,
what the White House said earlier on today was that
the White House had received intelligence from its military officials
that Israel was launching this strike into Katara. What we
heard from White House Press Secutor of Caroline Leavitt was
that Steve Wikoff, the Middle East end boy, had gone
to Cutter and essentially said, hey, look, this attack is

(03:13):
in coming. Kata came back within a matter of an
hour or so and said, well, I actually know. What
we got was a warning as the strikes were already happening.
And Donald Trump later clarified that, essentially saying that yes, look,
we tried to inform them. It was a little bit
too late, but we did what we could, is essentially
what he said. He has added that he will have

(03:34):
more to say in the coming day or so about
these Israeli strikes inside doa an attack that has been
condemned by the United Kingdom, by France, by Arab nations
in the Middle East. Australia has raised its concerns. We've
heard in the past that the New Zealand Prime Minister
has said, essentially that Israeli pro minist Benjamin Nja, who

(03:58):
has lost the plot the words a couple of weeks
ago from New Zealand's Prime minister. So look, there are
certainly many eyes watching this and watching the Israeli attack.
And Donald Trump says he is not happy by that.
We heard that in the SoundBite you played before. He
is not pleased with the way that this has gone
over the course of the last twenty four hours. But again,

(04:18):
what you're dealing with is with this international conflict, and
which with this US president is an idea of watch
this space. But it is a matter of how long
can the world continue to watch this space, because these
are conflicts that he has said he could resolve and
or could resolve quickly, and he hasn't been able to
do so yet.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah, very good point. Hey, thank you very much, Jonathan.
As always Jonathan Kursley, US correspondent. For more from Hither
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