The US says the missile that hit Poland was fired from Ukraine

The United States believes the explosion that killed two people on Polish soil on Tuesday was caused by an anti-aircraft missile that hit Ukraine. President Joe Biden has shared these preliminary findings with his partners in the G-7 and NATO, Reuters said, citing Atlantic Alliance sources. Earlier, the Associated Press pointed to the same hypothesis after consulting several US government sources.

President Biden has not publicly confirmed those conclusions, but he indicated at the G-20 summit in Bali on Wednesday that he considers it “unlikely” that the missile that hit Polish territory near the border with Ukraine was fired from Russia. When asked about the allegations linking Russia to the attack, the president said: “There is preliminary information that calls this into question. I don’t want to say this until we have completed the investigation, but given the trajectory it is unlikely that it was fired from Russia.”

The impact on Polish territory took place during a war marked by a Russian offensive with dozens of missiles. The frustrated attempt to intercept one of them is said to have been the cause of the explosion in Poland, according to the American reconstruction.

Biden made the remarks after an emergency meeting to raise the issue with NATO G-20 leaders — Poland is a member of the Atlantic Alliance — Japanese prime minister and EU officials. The heads of state or government of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Canada and the Netherlands participated in the tender, which was sponsored by the United States.

“We have agreed to support the Polish investigation into the explosion. They make sure we know exactly what happened and together we determine our next step. There was complete unanimity among those present at the table,” Biden said. A joint statement from the assembled countries reflected that consensus, calling Russian troops’ rocket attacks on cities and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine on Tuesday “barbaric”.

White House sources later clarified that Washington will support the Polish investigation, but not necessarily its conclusions. The general tone of the responses suggests a dual purpose: to show staunch unity and to bring calm to avoid escalation, a goal that NATO allies have had since the start of the Russian invasion.

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Polish officials had previously indicated that the impact and deaths on their territory were caused by a “Russian-made” missile, according to a statement from the Polish Foreign Ministry, which summoned the Russian ambassador in Warsaw and demanded “immediate detailed explanations” . the country’s president, Andrzej Duda, then took a more subtle stance, stating that there was “no conclusive evidence” as to who fired it, arguing that the projectile was “probably” made in Russia, and stressed that it was a “insulated projectile”. incident.

Russia’s defense ministry has denied it was a Russian missile that hit Poland, calling the allegations “a deliberate provocation aimed at heightening tensions”.

The episode shows the significant risks of uncontrolled escalation that are always present in any war scenario.

From left, US President Joe Biden; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz; Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and French President Emmanuel Macron at an emergency meeting following the incident in Poland.
THE MONCLOA (THE MONCLOA)

Pending clarification of the circumstances of the impact, Duda indicated that it is “highly likely” that Poland will decide to invoke Article 4 of the NATO treaty, which provides for consultations in the event of a threat to “territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of its components.” This is a section before the famous Fifth Article, that of mutual defense in case of “armed attack”, the activation of which depends in any case on a political decision by the leaders of the Allies.

The crisis has shaken an already tense G-20 after months of international confrontation and friction following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Leaders of this group, which represents 80% of global GDP and brings together developed and emerging economies, approved a joint text this Wednesday – closing the meeting. This is a very important example of consensus in the current context of the confrontation over Ukraine.

The text agreed upon by the countries states that “the current era should not be one of war” and considers “the use or threat of the use of nuclear weapons is impermissible”. The document contains the strong condemnation of the war in Ukraine by the “majority” of the group’s members, but points out that there were “different views” on the situation and sanctions at the meeting.

Biden and Polish President Duda talk in Blinken’s presence this morning in Bali THE WHITE HOUSE (via REUTERS)

Putin has decided not to attend the summit in the Balinese city of Nusa Dua, the first of its kind since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moscow was represented by its foreign minister, veteran Sergei Lavrov, but he left late on the first day when news reached the Indonesian island that Russian troops launched missiles into Ukraine on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s President Volodymir Zelensky took advantage of his videocall speech on the first day of the summit, ahead of the wave of missile attacks in his country and the impact of an attack on Poland, to present a decalogue of the measures he defined in its “vision of the road to peace”, which urges the international community to promote it. The Ukrainian leader pushed for the restoration of his country’s full territorial integrity – “this is non-negotiable”, he said – the establishment of a special court to try Russian war crimes and a mechanism for restoring the base of assets of Russia. He also called for an international agreement that would give Ukraine security guarantees.

Several countries, including China and India, expressed their desire for diplomacy to end the war at the Bali summit. Western countries insist that it is up to Kiev to decide if, when and under what modalities this will come up for discussion. Zelensky’s speech and subsequent events suggest that the moment is not yet near.