NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday there was no sign Russia had launched a deliberate attack on Romania after possible drone debris was found near its border with Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said Romania, a member of the U.S.-led military alliance, on Wednesday informed its NATO allies of the discovery and that it “demonstrates the risk of incidents and accidents.”
“We don’t have any information indicating any intentional attack by Russia and we are awaiting the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” Stoltenberg told EU lawmakers.
“Regardless of that outcome, what we have seen of course is a lot of fighting and also air attacks close to NATO borders.”
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday called for an “urgent investigation” into debris, believed to be the remains of a drone, which was discovered on its territory following attacks in neighboring Ukraine.
The revelation came after Romania repeatedly rejected claims by Kyiv that Iranian-made Russian drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory during a strike on the Ukrainian port of Izmail on Sunday night.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, NATO has been focused on preventing the war from spilling over onto the territories of its member states.
Any attack on one of its members could drag NATO into direct military conflict with Russia owing to the alliance’s joint defense pact.
Fears soared of a potential flare-up in November last year when a missile from across the border of Ukraine killed two people in Poland.
NATO said the projectile was a Ukrainian air defense missile and not fired by Russia.