NATO has no information that the drone debris found on the territory of alliance member Romania was caused by a deliberate Russian attack, NATO's secretary-general has said.
"We don't have any information indicating an intentional attack by Russia, and we are awaiting the outcome of the ongoing investigation," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told EU lawmakers in Brussels on September 7.
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Ukraine on September 4 said that drones detonated in Romania during an overnight Russian attack on Izmayil, a Danube River port southwest of Odesa that borders Romania.
Since pulling out of the deal that allowed Ukraine to ship grain via the Black Sea, Russia has launched several attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube, which has become an alternate route to get Ukrainian agricultural goods to market.
Romanian officials have sent mixed signals on whether their territory was struck by a Russian drone.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on September 5 that the attack was "verified 800 meters from our border, so very, very close."
But on September 6, Defense Minister Angel Tilvar said that pieces of a drone had been found on Romanian territory.
Tilvar told local news channel Antena 3 CNN that parts of what was most likely a drone had been discovered in the eastern Tulcea County, an area of the Danube that forms a natural border between Romania and Ukraine.
Romania briefed its NATO allies on September 6 about the find at a meeting in Brussels.
"The Romanian authorities have confirmed that debris, possibly from a drone, has been found on Romanian soil, close to the border with Ukraine,” NATO spokesman Dylan White said in a statement.
"Allies expressed strong solidarity with Romania," White said. "We continue to monitor the situation closely, and we remain in close contact with our ally, Romania."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was visiting Ukraine, discussed the situation in a telephone call with Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu, the State Department said.
The two also discussed "additional cooperation to preserve airspace security," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there has been one other recorded incident of the war spilling into a NATO member state.
That was when a missile struck a farm in Poland, killing two people. Polish officials later said it appeared to be unintentional and that it was likely launched by air defenses in neighboring Ukraine.