According to President Joe Biden, who talked with leaders of Western partners on Wednesday raising concern that the Ukraine crisis may cross over into neighboring nations, a missile that kill*d two people in Poland was most certainly not fired by Russia.
The blast at a grain factory near the Ukrainian border occurred on the same day that Russia launched a barrage of missiles against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which Kyiv described as the heaviest in nearly nine months of conflict.
According to the Polish Foreign Ministry, the rocket landed in Przewodow, a hamlet approximately 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Russia denied responsibility for the explosion, but Polish President Andrzej Duda told reporters it was “most likely a Russian-made missile,” but there was no specific proof of who shot the missile and that it was a one-time occurrence.
A Russian attack on Poland might exacerbate the situation between Russia and Ukraine, as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are obliged to collective defense under Article 5 of the constitution.
To discuss the event, Biden organized a conference of leaders gathering in Bali, Indonesia, for the G20 summit. NATO nations Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom were present, as with delegates from non-NATO member Japan and the European Union.
When asked if it was too soon to say whether the missile launched from Russia, Biden stated “, “There is preliminary information that contests that. I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate it, but it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia but we’ll see.”
Biden stated that the US and NATO countries will conduct a thorough investigation before taking action. NATO ambassadors are scheduled to meet later today.
Polish officials in Warsaw said their government planned to call a NATO meeting on Article 4 of the treaty for talks between allies, as well as address the matter at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
The explosion in Poland occurred as Russia launched missiles into cities across Ukraine. Some hit Lviv, which is only 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Polish border.
Russian missiles hit Poland, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a “significant escalation” of the war. He provided no evidence of Russia’s participation.
“All of Europe and the world must be fully protected from terrorist Russia,” he stated after speaking with Poland’s President Duda.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland was ramping up military readiness and urged Poles to be quiet.
According to the White House, Biden reminded Duda during a phone chat that Washington has a “ironclad commitment to NATO” and will assist Poland’s inquiry.
According to the Associated Press, a senior US intelligence official said the incident was caused by Russian missiles that crossed into Poland.
However, the Pentagon, White House, and US State Department all stated that they could not confirm the story and were working with the Polish authorities to acquire further information. The State Department called the findings “incredibly concerning.”
Germany and Canada said they were keeping an eye on the situation, while the European Union, the Netherlands, and Norway said they were looking for further information. French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered a confirmation investigation, while Britain is looking into the claim “urgently.”
According to a local who declined to be recognized, the two deaths were guys who were near a grain facility’s weighing area.