- NATO should use its air defenses to intercept Russian airstrikes, a former NATO chief said.
- Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the i newspaper that missiles could be launched from Poland and Romania.
- NATO members helped Israel shoot down Iranian airstrikes, and could do the same in Ukraine, he said.
NATO countries should use air defenses based in eastern Europe to take down Russian missiles and drones targeting Ukraine, a former NATO chief said.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's Secretary-General between 2009 and 2014, told the UK's i Paper that interceptor missiles from neighboring NATO countries like Poland and Romania could shoot down Russian airstrikes aimed at Ukraine.
Some NATO members, like the US, UK, and France, deployed fighter jets to help Israel's air defenses intercept Iranian drones and missiles earlier this year.
And the military alliance could do "exactly the same" to help Ukraine shoot down incoming Russian drones and missiles, Rasmussen told the outlet.
He went further, suggesting NATO's air and missile defense systems could be connected to Ukraine's, per the outlet.
Rasmussen said the effort could shield western Ukraine "much more" effectively, protect its defense industry, and kick-start its reconstruction, while also avoiding sending NATO troops into the country, per the outlet.
Most NATO members have so far balked at sending troops to Ukraine or targeting Russian airstrikes from their own territory.
Instead, Ukraine's allies have sent it nearly $118 billion in direct military aid, as of March, including air defense systems like the US ATACMS, which have been used by Ukraine to devastating effect.
Even so, Ukraine's air defense interception rate dropped from 46% over the last six months to 30% last month, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The outlet reported, based on data from Ukraine, that it was 73% during a six-month period last year.
Ukraine's increasingly strained air defense capabilities have allowed Russia to field more reconnaissance drones, improve its ability to launch HIMARS-style strikes, and knock out its power infrastructure.
In response, the Pentagon said it would "rush" Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine as part of its latest military package, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent months begging for them.
Ukraine's allies have more than 100 Patriot air-defense systems that they could spare, Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, told The Washington Post last month.
And while some countries, like Spain, are sending theirs, others are refusing, saying they need them to protect their own airspace.