In Warsaw, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gen. Keith Kellogg warned that recent Russian provocations—including a fighter‑jet breach—raise risk levels and recalled the 2015 incident when Turkey shot down a Russian aircraft.
Raising the Risk Level
According to Gen. Keith Kellogg, “there’s no doubt that if you have more than 19 drones landing in the wrong place, it’s either really bad targeting, a really bad route, or bad command.” He cited a recent Russian fighter‑jet breach of Estonian airspace and said such incidents should prompt decision‑makers to assess how they react, as a military response often raises the risk level.
Kellogg noted that the 2015 incident, when a Russian fighter violated Turkish airspace, ended with Turkey shooting it down, and said this demonstrates how risk can be managed through decisive action.
Putin Cannot Beat NATO
When asked about a possible ceasefire and the deployment of European troops to Ukraine, Kellogg said, “Russians do not have a say. If anyone wants to send troops, that decision rests solely with the Ukrainian people.” He then argued that Putin has no capacity to defeat NATO or the West, citing the decimation of Russian front‑line units in the first year of the war and his efforts to marshal tanks from reserves and museums to the front.
He added that the war has evolved beyond conventional tactics, saying “drone warfare, which emerged in Ukraine and draws on the experience of the Iranians, has changed warfare to a level we had never seen before.” Kellogg compared drones to earlier innovations—machine guns, tanks, aircraft, and submarines—that each transformed war in their era.
Ukraine’s Sovereign Decision on Troop Deployment
Kellogg emphasized that the decision to send troops from European states to Ukraine rests solely with Ukraine, and that sovereignty matters more than the origin of pledges.
Drone Warfare Alters the Battlefield
The U.S. military leader highlighted that shifting to drone‑based combat has fundamentally changed the nature of conflict, requiring an increase in political and military risk to achieve desired outcomes.
