Pedro Sánchez, in the center, together with his US counterparts, Joe Biden; Germany, Olaf Scholz; France, Emmanuel Macron; and Great Britain, Rishi Sunak, this Wednesday in Bali, during the G-20 summit. /
Its secretary general assures that “there is no proof” that the incident was “a deliberate attack against the alliance”
NATO does not believe that the missile that killed two people on Tuesday in Poland was part of “a deliberate attack” against the alliance. While the investigations into the incident continue, the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, has pointed out that “most likely” is that the device that hit Polish territory is part of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense, which was activated “before the wave of Russian air strikes. However, after the NATO emergency meeting, Stoltenberg stressed that “it is not Ukraine’s fault”, but that “Russia is ultimately responsible”.
The incident “does not have the characteristics of an attack against an ally” so article 4 of the treaties will not be activated, which would lead the Alliance to respond to an enemy attack. “NATO is prepared for accidents of this type and to ensure that, if they occur, they do not escalate into something that is out of control,” said Stoltenberg, who has once again called for prudence while the investigations continue.
Forensic experts take samples at the crash site. /
The Atlantic Alliance does not believe that Russia is preparing a large-scale attack on its territory, but they continue to build up their military capabilities in eastern Europe. “There are more troops, more naval and air capacity, which strengthens the defense of our partners.” NATO allies maintained “close communications” throughout last night and in their calls with Polish President Adrzej Duda and Joe Biden, they agreed to remain vigilant and united against Russia. “We will do what is necessary to protect the allies,” he added.
After a few hours in which it seemed that the West could be heading to war after the explosion of a missile last night in Poland, near the border with Ukraine and therefore within NATO territory, it seems that containment is imposed. The first reports immediately after the explosion, encouraged by the kyiv government and the Baltic countries, suggested that the projectile had been launched by Russian artillery, voluntarily or accidentally, killing two peasants. However, President Joe Biden released the first conclusions of the intelligence services to his colleagues in the G-7 and NATO early in the morning, which suggest that the rocket came from the Ukrainian anti-aircraft batteries and not from the artillery. Russian. A version that would coincide with the one presented at noon by the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg. Poland has announced its own investigation into the events and the White House has stated that it will support it, although it will not necessarily assume its conclusions, since its own analysis of the incident is underway.
Biden has presented these data, which, he insists, are preliminary in nature, during the urgent meeting convened this morning in Bali with the NATO allied countries. Its leaders are present at the G-20 summit in Indonesia and the EU leadership has joined the call. The main leaders of Canada, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain have shared information from their US counterpart after expressing their “solidarity” with Poland, reiterating their criticism of the war promoted by the Kremlin (which has consistently denied being responsible of the explosion) and stress the need to exercise extreme “prudence” in the face of the “extreme seriousness of the facts”.
US sources say the leaders have accepted the reports. Belgian Minister Ludivine Dedonder has said that “the attacks were the result of Ukrainian air defense systems, used to counter Russian missiles.” For his part, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recalled that “none of this would be happening if it weren’t for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is the cruel and unforgiving reality of Putin’s war.”
Ukraine requests access to the site
Poland announced this Wednesday that it will carry out its own investigation into the events and the White House said it will support it, although it will not necessarily assume its conclusions, since its own analysis of the incident is underway.
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin called for collaboration with Warsaw and the other partners to gather more information. “What we do know is the context in which this is taking place. Russia is facing setback after setback on the battlefield, and it is targeting Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he added.
The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), for its part, has requested permission to “immediately” access the scene of the incident. «We are in favor of a joint study of the incident (…). We are prepared to hand over evidence we have of the Russian trail,” said NSDC secretary Oleksei Danilov. He pointed out, in the same way, that they await “the information from our partners on the basis of which they have concluded that it is a Ukrainian air defense missile.”
For some countries, what happened on Tuesday serves to support the idea of installing air defense systems in the border area with Ukraine. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda assured that his country will support the deployment of air defense systems on the Polish border and “on the entire eastern flank of NATO.”