In the coming days, the government of Norway will send several F-35 aircraft to Poland, in addition to the Nasams air defense system and 100 soldiersas reported by the Norwegian Minister of Defense, Bjørn Arild Gram, with the intention of helping to maintain security around the Rzeszow airport, very close to the city of Lviv, on the border with Ukraine, and which has been the target of numerous air attacks.
According to Gram, this aid is required at a critical moment in the conflict, and he believes that it is a message that both Ukraine and Russia will “understand.” This collaboration on the part of Norway It only ratifies the position of the Nordic country alongside Ukraine and against Russia.
The problem that now arises is what Russia’s position will be if these shipments continue over time and attack Russian positions both in Ukraine and on Russian territory, as well as if they manage to shoot down their drones.
And there are already many voices in Russia that advocate attacking these Western shipments, although Norway believes that this is unlikely because the fact that an attack on Poland would trigger an all-out war between NATO and Russiasomething that at the moment neither of the two parties seems to want.
However, it does seem much more viable for Moscow to carry out specific “terrorist attacks”, such as sabotage or hybrid threats. In this case, Norway warns that “it does not pose a military threat”but these actions are much more likely to be carried out.
However, they hope that these shipments will be interpreted as a deterrent tactic against Russia, although according to the words of Norwegian Air Force colonel and current analyst, Erik Solli, both “Russian special forces and the GRU (Russian military intelligence service) have become more offensive in recent months” and they are assuming an increasingly physical dimension, which could lead to an increase in tension that forces NATO to intervene openly.
