Polish foreign minister urges NATO to boost drills near Kaliningrad
Poland's foreign minister Radosław Sikorski has called on NATO to intensify military exercises near Russia's Kaliningrad region in order to pressure Moscow into redirecting forces from Ukraine, while explicitly ruling out any move to seize the territory.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said NATO should step up military exercises near Russia's Kaliningrad exclave. He made the remarks on Friday, September 11, at the annual YES conference in Kyiv, organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.
Sikorski said Poland is closely monitoring the Kaliningrad region, noting that it currently has almost no troops stationed there. In his view, this suggests Russian President Vladimir Putin sees NATO as a peaceful alliance that will not exploit this local weakness — and that assumption, he said, could be a mistake.
Pressure, not occupation
Asked directly whether he was suggesting NATO seize Kaliningrad, Sikorski said no. Instead, he explained, the idea is for NATO to conduct exercises on its own side of the border that are aggressive enough to leave Russia uncertain about the alliance's intentions. According to Sikorski, this uncertainty would force Moscow to pull some forces away from the front in Ukraine to defend Kaliningrad instead.
His comments come as Poland continues to strengthen its military posture near the border. In late August, 28 South Korean-made K2 tanks arrived in Poland and are set to be deployed close to the frontier with Kaliningrad.
Separately, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said member states "cannot be naive" about the threat posed by Russia.
