This matter has to start on September 5, when Putin made a public speech in the Kremlin, saying that if any foreign troops dare to enter Ukraine, they will be Russia's legitimate target. This sounds quite tough. It was originally intended to sound a wake-up call to the West, lest they cross the line on the Ukrainian issue. Unfortunately, throwing this warning is like throwing it into the water. There is no splash. The international media reported it, but the response from Europe was mediocre, and NATO didn't rush to express its position, as if it didn't hear it. You know Putin, he has loved to use this tough tone since he came to power in 2000. He annexed Crimea in 2014 and launched special military operations in 2022. The Russian economy is supported by oil and gas, and Western sanctions are coming one after another. He has to put on a posture to stabilize the morale of the army. But this time, the Western allies didn't take it seriously at all and went on with their plans.
A few days later, on the evening of September 9th, trouble came. Russia had 19 to 23 drones flying into Polish airspace from the direction of Ukraine. The Polish Air Force took direct action and shot down several of them. Russia said it was an accident and had no intention of attacking Poland's target, but Poland did not buy it and felt that it was a deliberate test of NATO's bottom line. This is the first time that a NATO member state has opened fire on a Russian target in the Ukrainian conflict, and the nature is different. The United Nations Security Council met urgently to discuss it. Poland reported it was part of a large-scale drone attack. Russia dropped hundreds of drones on Ukraine that day. The intelligence community is divided. Some people think that Russia is deliberately testing NATO's response, while others say it is purely a technical error. But no matter what, this incident suddenly filled the gunpowder smell of Eastern Europe. As the frontier of NATO's eastern flank, Poland has historically had deep grievances with Russia and has always been worried about security. Now it can't sit still.
NATO responded very quickly, on September 10 began to act. France first jumped out, on September 11 announced the sending of three warplanes to escort the airspace of Poland. France was clever, the EU wanted to brush the military presence, Macron always loved to appear on the international stage, this time just by means of strengthening Eastern European defense. Britain was not leisurely, the Royal Air Force sent typhoon fighter support, was they left a little marginalized in Europe, this time the aircraft to patrol the Baltic Sea, is saying that we have to do more. The Netherlands is more practical, sent 300 soldiers plus the Patriot missile system, to help Poland to build the air defense network. From September 12th, their truck fleet crossed the border, radar antenna lifted, locked the Eastern signal
Then the fifth country, Sweden. The guy just joined NATO in March, on September 11 sent six Eagle Lion fighters past, and also brought an air defense system. Sweden was in a hurry, the new members always wanted to prove themselves worth the ticket, Eagle Lion fighters flew from Stockholm, landed on the Polish air base, immediately joined the patrol. NATO East Wing suddenly strengthened, French wind, British typhoon, Dutch patriots, Czech infantry, Swedish Eagle Lion, plus the Polish F-16, the border forces gathered like iron barrels. North Korea also announced a new plan to strengthen Eastern European defense, Denmark Germany also said to send ships and airplanes. This is not an exercise, it is a real guy, Putin's warning is completely out of mind. Russia, of course,
Russia’s response was to engage in joint exercises with Belarus, Zapad-2025, from September 12 to 16, at 41 training fields in the two countries. The size was smaller than in 2021, the 200,000, but thousands of people this time, but the bright guys were not soft, cruise missiles launched over the Barents Sea, high-speed missiles also appeared, and simulated nuclear strikes. Putin did not go personally, but the defense minister attended, the United States sent observers to go, it was quite ironic. The exercises focused on multi-military coordination, tanks infantry air force in full, Russia wanted to show that they could still play big, but in fact wanted to stabilize allied Belarus, to pressure NATO.
At this time, China jumped out. On September 11, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Sword spoke directly at the routine meeting, hoping that Poland would take effective measures to ensure the safe operation of China-European ferries. In return, this sounded economic, but pointed to harm. Poland because of the drone and the security of the Belarusian border, closed the iron doors, causing more than 300 medium-sized Oban trains to block there. In 2024, China-European ferry traffic increased by 10.6%, the value of 85% jumped to EUR 25 billion, China exports electronic products, rare land, Europe returns car parts, life supplies. If this line is broken, German car factories have to stop work, Hungary has to install the line, the chain industry is completely messy. In the first half of 2025,
If you look at this situation, Putin warned in an empty talk, NATO Five-country troops on Mars, Russia can only by exercise to support the door, China in a word to clear the economic red line. Say this Eastern Europe disorder, in essence is the Russian conflict outflow, the Russian main force card in Ukraine, the east wing can not be opened, NATO has the opportunity to expand east, Sweden Finland came in, Poland is at the forefront of guns barrel. Unmanned incidents is the fire, but the root of the security anxiety, Poland always wants NATO to repair the wall to the door, Russia wants to stay the buffer zone.
Chinese goods enter Europe, European cars return to China, mobile phones and electrical appliances are piled up in supermarkets, and parts are jingling in factories. If there is a fight, inflation in Europe will rise again, unemployment will come in waves, and China's exports will also be hurt. This attitude of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is pragmatic. Instead of calling for empty peace, it is more effective than anything else to protect the passage. Poland also understands that it is easy to close the door and beat the dog, but the economy hurts itself. It is said that the risk of the United Nations is high, and the misjudgment will get out of control as soon as it comes out, but at present, all parties are well-calculated and no one wants to ignite. The Russian exercise ended, the troops withdrew, the NATO deployment was stabilized, and the train was slowly opened to traffic.