NATO flexes its muscles and bulks up defenses on its eastern flank to ward off Russia

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — NATO said Friday it's bulking up its defensive posture on its eastern flank bordering Belarus, Russia and Ukraine with new equipment to deter potential Russian aggression following an incursion by Russian drones into Polish territory.

The alliance's supreme commander in Europe said a new operation, dubbed Eastern Sentry, will add equipment from France, Denmark, Germany and the U.K. to its existing air and ground-based defenses.

“The key to this is an entirely new defense design,” U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich told reporters at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters.

French Rafale fighter jets, Danish F-16s, a frigate and ground-based defense systems have been pledged for the operation.

Grynkewich said the additional resources will enable the alliance to “plug gaps in the line” and concentrate forces wherever they're needed while improving communications across NATO's entire eastern flank.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would deploy three Rafale fighters to Poland, while Britain unveiled fresh sanctions on Russia’s oil revenues and war machine.

“The security of the European continent is our top priority. We will not yield to Russia’s growing intimidation,” Macron posted on X. He said the deployment was discussed with both NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Poland’s Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz hailed the operation in a post on X as “active deterrence and readiness to defend wherever needed.”

Multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland on Wednesday, prompting NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down and underlining long-held concerns about Russia’s three-year war in neighboring Ukraine expanding.

Russia said it did not target Poland and Moscow's ally Belarus said the drones went astray because they were jammed, but European leaders have expressed certainty that the incursions were a deliberate provocation by Russia.

The new measures announced by Britain on Friday included bans on 70 vessels that the U.K. says are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that transports Russian oil in defiance of sanctions. Some 30 individuals and companies — including Chinese and Turkey-based firms — also were sanctioned for their part in supplying Russia with electronics, chemicals, explosives and other weapons components.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen pledged expanded cooperation between the Danish and Ukrainian defense industries. Rasmussen said after talks with Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha that his country aims to increase its defense production in Ukraine and encourage more Ukrainian companies to set up shop in Denmark.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper made her first trip to Kyiv on Friday after her appointment a week ago following a Cabinet shake-up by Starmer.

Cooper said her visit is a demonstration of solidarity with Ukraine, which she said has seen a massive increase in Russian drone attacks in recent months. In July, there was a tenfold increase over the same month last year, she said.

“The UK will not stand idly by as Putin continues his barbaric invasion of Ukraine,” Cooper said, noting what she said was the Russian president’s “complete disregard for sovereignty” by sending drones into NATO airspace.

“International action to increase economic pressure on Russia and to cut off critical cash flows which he desperately needs to pay for this illegal war is vital.”

Reflecting Britain's support for Ukraine, Prince Harry made a surprise visit to Kyiv where he met with wounded service members on Friday.

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski was also visiting Kyiv on Friday. Sybiha posted on X that the two officials would discuss “shared security, Ukraine’s EU and NATO accession, and pressure on Moscow.” Meanwhile, Poland's Defense Ministry said it will work with Ukraine to train personnel on anti-drone defense.

Wednesday’s Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace has compelled NATO allies to take a closer look at the means at their disposal to counter any further threats.

A U.N. Security Council meeting called by Poland will begin later Friday to discuss the incursion.

Also Friday, Russia stoked European unease as it launched a long-planned joint military exercise with Belarus aiming to showcase close defense ties between Moscow and Minsk, as well as Russia’s military might.

U.S.-led efforts to steer Moscow and Kyiv toward a peace settlement have so far failed to get traction.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said talks to end the war in Ukraine were currently on “pause,” even though channels of communication remain open.

“One cannot simply put on rose-tinted glasses and expect that the negotiation process will yield lightning-fast results,” Peskov said. “The Russian side remains ready to follow the path of peaceful dialogue.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated that neither promises of renewed trade nor territorial concessions will stop Russia until it realizes that its resources for waging war against his country are depleted.

“The Russian war machine will only stop when it runs out of fuel,” Zelenskyy told a conference Friday. “And Putin will start to stop it himself when he feels, truly, that the resources for the war are running low.”

Russian air defenses downed 221 Ukrainian drones over more than a dozen Russian regions early Friday, Russia's Defense Ministry said. The attack involved some of the highest numbers of drones reported by the Russian military, but there have been no reports of any significant damage.

A Ukrainian security official said drones struck Russia’s largest oil port on the Baltic Sea in Primorsk, including oil pumping stations conveying oil to the Ust-Luga port terminal.

The official said Primorsk is a key hub for Russia’s “shadow fleet" of sanction-busting tankers that earn Moscow approximately $15 billion annually.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss missions.

Meanwhile, Tusk, the Polish prime minister, dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the drone incursion into Poland may have been “a mistake.”

“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake,” Tusk wrote on X. “But it wasn’t. And we know it.”

Tusk's foreign minister, Sikorski, said there was nothing accidental about the drone incursion and anyone suggesting otherwise is a “willing accomplice” to spreading Russian propaganda. ____ Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels, Jill Lawless in London; John Leicester in Paris; Ilia Novikov in Kyiv and Katie Marie Davis in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.