Episode 501: In the Danger Zone: Russia’s Drones Cross NATO Lines

Today, Les, Jamil, Martha, and Jess unpack reports of Russian drones violating Romanian and Polish airspace—sparking NATO forces to intercept and raising the stakes of direct conflict between NATO and Russia for the first time. With Russian attacks in Ukraine intensifying and Trump fresh from meetings with Putin and European leaders, the question of how the U.S. and NATO should respond is more urgent than ever.Is Putin deliberately testing NATO’s resolve, betting he can cross red lines without consequence? Are sanctions and weapons deliveries enough, or is it time to escalate—whether through stronger economic pressure, expanded air defense, or even shutting down airspace over Ukraine?Check out these sources that helped shape our experts’ opinions: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/world/europe/romania-drone-russia-ukraine.html?unlocked_article_code=1.l08.bTAn.Cgo3MiA_TcVN&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare https://www.newsweek.com/romania-russia-drone-poland-nato-ukraine-2129521 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/romania-scrambles-fighter-jets-after-reporting-drone-incursion-russia-ukraine/ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80g7g5rmlno @lestermunson@jamil_n_jaffer@marthamillerdc@NotTVJessJonesLike what we're doing here?  Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.  And don't forget to follow @faultlines_pod and @masonnatsec on Twitter!#podcast #NationalSecurity #NatSec We are also on YouTube, and watch today's episode here: https://youtu.be/Lvq4VSDLCug Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.