Canada reprimands the Russian ambassador following the foray into Polish airspace

Global Affairs Canada summoned the Russian ambassador after Russian drones stolen in Polish airspace earlier this week.

Foreign Minister Anita Anand said that ambassador Oleg Stepanov was summoned on Wednesday for an “official reprimand”.

“When Russian drones violated Polish airspace, they also violated NATO airspace,” she said in a press release on social media on Friday.

Poland has shot down several drones in its airspace with the support of military aircraft of its NATO allies, the first time that a member of the Western military alliance is known to have fired during the Russian War in Ukraine. Poland said drones entered its airspace over a period of several hours and that drone debris has been recovered in several regions.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the country was “the closest that we have been to open the conflicts since the Second World War”.

Tusk told Polish parliament on Wednesday on Wednesday that there had been 19 intrusions in Polish airspace. The government invoked article 4, under which it may require consultation with NATO members.

Russia and its close partner of Bélarus suggested that incursions may have been an error caused by the scrambling of the network – but Poland rejects this explanation.

“We also want the attack on the drone against Poland to be an error. But that was not the case. And we know it,” said Tusk on social networks on Friday.

NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, says it was always an reckless act, whatever the intention.

NATO said on Friday that it increased its defensive posture on its eastern flank bordering Belarus, Russia and Ukraine with new equipment to dissuade the potential Russian aggression.

The supreme commander of the Alliance in Europe said that a new operation, nicknamed Eastern Sentry, will add equipment from France, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom to its existing air and land defenses.

“The key to this is an entirely new design of the defense,” General Alexus Grynkewich said in the United States at NATO in Brussels.

On Friday, in her statement, Anand said that Canada “welcomes” the boost to the defenses along the eastern flank.

Look | Does Russia come from Poland at war?:

Does Russia come from Poland at war? | On this subject

Poland says that it has shot down several Russian drones in its airspace, the first time that a NATO country is known to have drawn directly from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. Although this is not the first time that a Russian attack has been posed in the airspace of another country, Andrew Chang explains why this time is different – and examines why climbing is of a particular global concern. Images provided by Getty Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters.

The United Nations Security Council also met on Friday to discuss the incursion of the drone in Poland.

Canada also organized a virtual meeting of G7 finance ministers to discuss new measures to increase pressure on Russia.

“The G7 is determined to stop the Russian war machine and meet today to discuss the improvement of economic measures to paralyze Russia’s ability to finance its war,” read the meeting.

The ministers discussed possible sanctions and other economic measures which could be imposed on Russia, according to reading. But the declaration offered few details on what these measures could involve.

The G7 group is made up of Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, with the European Union as a “unrenovated member”.

Earlier this month, after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to target foreign troops deployed in Ukraine, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada and other allies were to maintain “maximum pressure” on Moscow.