Putin plays with fire: Trump and Poland's move to contain Russia

Polish President Karol Nawrocki revived the initiative to establish a permanent American military base named "Fort Trump," hours after a Russian combat helicopter entered Polish airspace. The plan: increase the American force to about 15,000 soldiers. Trump hailed the step as historic. Tusk warns of planned Russian attacks.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki revived last night (Wednesday) the initiative to establish a permanent American military base on Polish soil, under the name "Fort Trump." Nawrocki, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly, stated that he is convinced Warsaw and Washington will reach a final agreement on the project, which aims to ensure a long-term American military presence to curb Russian aggression. The president expressed hope that Trump would personally inaugurate the base. The urgency gained renewed force just hours later, when a Russian Mi-8 combat helicopter entered Polish airspace from the Kaliningrad enclave this morning. The helicopter crossed the border north of the town of Braniewo, penetrated about 300 meters into the country's territory, and remained in Polish airspace for 42 seconds. Military sources in Warsaw clarified that this was a test by Moscow to gauge NATO's response times. The proposal to establish the base was first born in 2018 during the presidency of Andrzej Duda. Now, Nawrocki is leading the effort vigorously. Poland's Deputy Defense Minister noted that the base is expected to house 3,000-5,000 American soldiers, and the ultimate goal is a total deployment of about 15,000 U.S. troops in the country. Trump praised the progress as a "historic step." Prime Minister Tusk issued a warning that intelligence information indicates Russia's intention to carry out drone and missile attacks against NATO's eastern flank countries, and to present them as "technical accidents."