By Leo Chiu

Copyright kyivpost

Is NATO at war with Russia? That depends on who you ask in the Kremlin.

While the usually more hawkish Dmitry Medvedev – Russia’s former prime minister and current Security Council deputy chairman – said on Monday a theoretical no-fly zone over Ukraine means war, the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the two are de facto at war already.

Their comments came after 19 Russian drones violated Polish airspace last week, followed by a similar incident in Romania – both of which are NATO members.

Medvedev, writing on Telegram on Monday, once again rejected the West’s proposal of a no-fly zone over Ukraine – an idea floated since Moscow’s 2022 invasion that was never implemented.

“But seriously, the implementation of the provocative idea of ​​Kiev [sic] and other idiots about creating a ‘no-fly zone over ‘Ukraine’ and the ability for NATO countries to shoot down our UAVs will mean only one thing – a war between NATO and Russia,” Medvedev wrote.

[Kyiv Post preserved the incomplete quotation marks seen in Medvedev’s original texts in Russian.]

Medvedev also mocked the West’s “Coalition of the Willing” for planning to deploy troops to post-war Ukraine in his update, echoing his earlier “bulls**t” remark on the coalition made in English.

Meanwhile, Peskov said NATO is “de facto taking part in this war” by supporting Ukraine.

“NATO is at war with Russia,” Peskov said at a news briefing as per Russian state media TASS.

“It’s evident, and it doesn’t need any additional confirmation.”

Peskov’s comments are directed at recent remarks by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski that NATO is not at war with Russia despite the drone incident.

Sikorski also called for a NATO and EU-backed no-fly zone over Ukraine on Monday, according to the Washington Post.

“We as NATO and the EU could be capable of doing this, but it is not a decision that Poland can make alone; it can only be made with its allies,” Sikorski reportedly told a German outlet.

“Protection for our population – for example, from falling debris – would naturally be greater if we could combat drones and other flying objects beyond our national territory,” he added.

Europe has vowed to step up air policing along the eastern flank following the Poland incident, but has stopped short of drawing up a military response against Moscow.

In the US, President Donald Trump initially downplayed the incident, saying it may have been a “mistake” before demanding that NATO member states stop buying Russian oil as a precondition for the US to apply pressure on Moscow.

While the EU has plans to phase out all Russian energy by 2027 or earlier, Turkey, which maintains a “non-binary” stance on the war, continues to purchase Russian oil and is not subject to EU mandates. As such, Trump’s demands are unlikely to be met.