Responding to Russia’s war on Ukraine, NATO is operating a near persistent air umbrella above Ukraine-bordering NATO member states. But U.S. intelligence, fighter, and air-to-air refueling aircraft are bearing by far the outsize burden of this responsibility. Without the United States, the skies of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania would be far less secure.

This is worth noting in light of President Joe Biden’s attendance at a special leaders summit at NATO headquarters next Thursday. The topic will be Ukraine and the alliance’s response to Vladimir Putin’s war against that European democracy.