Polish FM: ‘We Would Defeat Russia Quite Quickly’ If Moscow Attacked NATO

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said NATO could defeat Russia quickly if Moscow attacked the alliance, arguing that Europe has “overwhelming superiority” in air power. “If Russia attacked us and we took our gloves off, I think we would defeat Russia quite quickly. We have overwhelming superiority over Russia in air power. General, correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s something like 2,500 aircraft,” Sikorski said during a Sept. 12 discussion at the annual Yalta European Strategy meeting in Kyiv.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “Even without US it’s still overwhelming, and I haven’t checked recently how many F-35s and JASSMs and all the deep-strike capabilities we have,” he added. Sikorski also compared Europe’s potential ability to strike Russia’s energy infrastructure with Ukraine’s ongoing campaign against Russian refineries. “But if the Ukrainians have knocked out half of Russia’s refining capacity in six months, we could do it in six weeks and take out the other half,” he said. The Polish minister urged Europe to convince Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin that any aggression against Europe would come at an “incredibly costly” price. He noted that the combined defense budgets of the Baltic and Nordic countries exceed Russia’s, while acknowledging that Europe still lacks full defense sovereignty. Other Topics of Interest Trump Tells Zelensky to Stop ‘Knocking Out Diesel Fuel in Russia’ Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russian oil refineries in recent months. Russia fires back Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Sikorski of “Russophobia of the brain” and claimed he had said Poland could quickly defeat Russia. But Sikorski was discussing a potential conflict between Russia and NATO, not a one-on-one war between Poland and Russia. Poland itself has roughly 75–80 combat aircraft, including F-16s, FA-50s, remaining MiG-29s and the first F-35s, compared with roughly 300 combat aircraft operated by Russia. His estimate of 2,500 aircraft referred to NATO’s combined airpower. Sikorski also stressed that the alliance would retain an advantage over Russia even without the United States. His comments came as Poland heightened its security posture following Russian strikes on Ukraine near the Polish border, including a Sept. 13 attack on a passenger train at Yahodyn railway station, just kilometers from Poland. Alisa is the Head of News and a correspondent at Kyiv Post, where she leads the newsroom’s coverage of breaking events and global developments. With over seven years of experience in TV journalism, Alisa has reported on international and Ukrainian politics, making complex stories easier to understand. Back in September 2022, Alisa joined the Kyiv Post team.