Nato Not Doing Enough As Russian Drone Hits Apartment Block In Romania | Kurt Volker

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]There would not be drones flying around and missiles flying around if Russia stopped the war. And so we we need to keep up the pressure for Russia to end it.

[00:00:09]Uh not just not just say, "Okay, we're here. Don't do this anymore. We'll defend our territory." We have to get Russia to stop the war.

[00:00:17]>> But I just want to focus on a very um important story. And this, of course, was uh a drone crashing into an apartment block in Romania. Now, NATO's Secretary General, Mark Rutte, says that the alliance stands ready to defend every inch of allied territory after that uh drone crash. Now, Romania, which is a member of NATO, has accused Russia of a serious violation of international law and has asked the alliance for anti-drone technology.

[00:00:47]Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, has said that the UK strongly condemns the incident and said that Russia's violation of eight NATO airspace is extremely dangerous and reckless. And she added that the UK stands united with Romania and all allies to defend every inch of NATO territory. Well, let's now speak with Kurt Volker, former US Ambassador to NATO. Kurt, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us.

[00:01:12]>> Ooh, thank you so much for having me.

[00:01:13]>> What is your reaction to this uh drone attack?

[00:01:18]>> Well, several things. First off, it's not the first time that a drone has gone into NATO territory. And not the first time that it has hit something.

[00:01:26]Fortunately, no one was killed today, but we did have someone killed previously in Poland. And uh the bottom line is Russia needs to stop this war. There would not be drones flying around and missiles flying around if Russia stopped the war. And so we we need to keep up the pressure for Russia to end it. Uh not just not just say, "Okay, we're here. Don't do this anymore. We'll defend our territory." We have to get Russia to stop the war.

[00:01:55]>> And how do you think we that? Because it does feel like we are in this impasse now, and of course there's a lot of attention being taken up in the Middle East at the moment with this you know war with with Iran. What what do you think could be done to to get a resolution on this?

[00:02:11]>> Well, there are several things and some are being done, but also more can be done. Uh first off on the positive side, there there is the 90 billion dollar loan from the European Union to Ukraine, which will finance in part more military support for Ukraine. That's good. There's the military assistance that countries are providing like Germany, like the UK, which is very important. We have not done a good enough job on starving the Kremlin of finances for this war.

[00:02:41]That would be oil and gas sanctions, cutting them off more quickly than we are currently planning to do. Uh not going in for sanctions waivers such as the Trump administration has done. And going after secondary sanctions on those who are evading the first layer, so that we really start to put more and more pressure on the Kremlin's finances.

[00:03:02]>> Mhm. And look, in terms of um you know this phrase that we're hearing that NATO stands ready to defense defend every inch of allied territory. I mean that's very much at the heart of Article 50.

[00:03:17]What what do you think it what's the line that needs to be crossed for Article 55 Article 5 to be triggered?

[00:03:24]>> Yeah.

[00:03:25]>> Um well, first off, it's nice to say, oh we're going to defend every inch of NATO territory. Well, we just didn't. This drone flew in and hit an apartment building.

[00:03:34]>> [laughter] >> So, you know, let's be serious here. If if we mean that, then we have to have a readiness level, we have to have anti-drone systems, we need to be coordinating airspace with Ukraine, so we know what's flying.

[00:03:48]This this is not there yet. Uh second, I think that the NATO leadership, NATO countries are right. This was not in most likely scenario was not a deliberate Russian attack on Romanian civilians. It was probably a drone that went off course or that hit something else.

[00:04:07]Uh but that being said, as I started this conversation, we shouldn't accept that as an excuse. There shouldn't be any drones flying to begin with.

[00:04:16]Uh and then I think, you know, Article 5 would be invoked if Romania asked that from NATO because they felt they were deliberately being attacked by Russia. I don't think they feel that. I don't think that NATO countries would go along with that right now. But if this continues where there's a pattern of Russian attacks on NATO territory, I think you will see Article 5 begin to be invoked.

[00:04:41]>> Mm. Well, look, Kurt, always good to speak with you. Thank you very much for your time. That's Kurt Volker, former US ambassador to uh NATO.

[00:04:50]Well, look, there are lots of rumors floating around that maybe Vladimir Putin is employing a body double after a seemingly throwaway comment made uh during a meeting to Moscow. In a video published by the Kremlin, a deputy prime minister appears to address the Russian president as Palych.

[00:05:20]>> [clears throat] >> Uh and it's been suggested that that was the presumed identity of one of Putin's alleged body doubles. Well, let's now speak with uh Times foreign correspondent and seasoned Moscow watcher, Mark Galeotti. Mark, welcome.

[00:05:38]What what do you think's going on here?

[00:05:40]Do you think there's any truth in it?

[00:05:42]>> Um Uh Uh, I mean, I think it's important to to point out that a lot of the suggestions that he was he accidentally referred to Putin's body double were kind of slightly tongue tongue in cheek and partly in jest. Um, but there have been rumors, it's true, for years that Putin has um in has used a body double or look-alike um to ensure his own personal security.

[00:06:05]Um, but basically we don't know. I mean, Ukrainian military intelligence has said that there are three body doubles um Putin uses them on different occasions.

[00:06:13]Um, Putin himself has been asked about it in 2020. He said that he was offered the chance to use body doubles when he became president in the early 2000s um to to protect him against attacks by Chechen terrorists. Um, but he he rejected the idea.

[00:06:29]Um, but of course it's not going to stop the speculation.

[00:06:32]>> And have any other um Russian presidents done anything like this, used body doubles?

[00:06:37]>> Um, well, Stalin is believed to have used body doubles, yeah. Um, um there was even there was even one of his body doubles even um wrote a book um during Putin's presidency about how he was Stalin's double.

[00:06:50]>> And what what I mean, in terms of the sort of security around um Putin, I mean, does he turn up at uh many events or has he scaled back? I mean, because I presume he has to have a huge amounts of of security, but do does it feel like he is at heightened risk at the moment?

[00:07:08]>> Um, well, I would say there's always been uh large amounts of security around Putin as he's the leader of Russia and the world's biggest um nuclear superpower.

[00:07:17]Um, I don't know. I mean, there was a European intelligence report recently that said he was staying mainly in his bunker in southern Russia, but that doesn't really seem to be true since um for example, yesterday he was in Kazakhstan. Um, he flew to Kazakhstan.

[00:07:31]Um, he had admittedly he had massive security. He was accompanied by um and a vehicle with a machine gun on the top and anti-drone technology.

[00:07:39]Uh, Um, he was on the Square on May the 9th. Again, admittedly not not for very long. Um but I don't think we can say that he is he's hiding in a bunker. I don't think there's really any truth to that.

[00:07:50]>> Okay. All right. Well, thanks very much for your time. That's Mark uh Bennett.