Durbin Delivers Floor Speech On Russia's Continued Incursions Into NATO Airspace, Condemns Trump For Russian Appeasement

Durbin Delivers Floor Speech On Russia's Continued Incursions Into NATO Airspace, Condemns Trump For Russian Appeasement

Durbin's call follows two separate violations of NATO airspace by Russia in Poland and Romania

WASHINGTON - Yesterday, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Co-Chair of the Senate Baltic Caucus, delivered a speech on the Senate floor condemning Russia for its continued drone incursions into NATO airspace and urging strong support for NATO allies in the face of increased Russian aggression.

During his remarks, Durbin chastised President Donald Trump for his appeasement of Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him to condemn such Russian provocations and reaffirm NATO's collective defense, especially in the vulnerable Baltics region.

"The E.U.'s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, promptly said of the recent incident, 'the violation of Romanian airspace by Russian drones is another unacceptable breach of an E.U. member state's sovereignty. This continued reckless escalation threatens regional security.' I couldn't agree more. With such brazen testing of NATO defense, one would expect our leader-the President of the United States-to make a similar condemnation and reaffirm the alliance's formidable defensive capabilities. But the response from President Trump has been silence or bizarre musings," said Durbin.

Last week, Russia violated NATO airspace with multiple drone incursions into Poland-marking the first time in the history of NATO that alliance fighters had engaged enemy targets in allied airspace. Then, on Saturday, another Russian drone breached Romanian airspace during an attack on neighboring Ukraine, prompting Romanian officials to scramble fighter jets.

Despite promises by President Trump that he would end the war in Ukraine "on day one" of his Administration and recent moves to appease Russian President Putin, including by inviting him onto American soil for a bilateral summit to discuss a resolution to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Putin has repeatedly and brazenly rejected such overtures.

Durbin continued, "So, let me say this once again to President Trump: I don't fault you for trying to negotiate an end to this horrific war in Ukraine. But it has been clear for some time to everyone that Mr. Putin is not serious about your overtures. In fact, he is repeatedly responding with embarrassingly clear replies. What did he do when we told him we wanted peace in Ukraine? He increased bombings. He violated NATO airspace. He teamed up with other global despots in acts of sabotage and mayhem all across Europe. I urge President Trump to finally see Putin forthe person he is and what he is doing to America's reputation and the President's own personal legacy."

Durbin concluded by calling on the Senate to pass the bipartisan Russian sanctions package, which has more than 80 cosponsors in the chamber.

Video of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Audio of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Footage of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

Last week, Durbin delivered a speech on the floor of the Senate chastising the Pentagon's reported decision to suspend the Baltic Security Initiative (BSI), a program to strengthen military cooperation with Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania that Durbin first established in 2021.

Durbin also introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2026 that would shore up support for BSI as the Trump Administration aims to suspend it.

-30-