Biden rejects Zelensky’s blast remark

Western leaders moved to calm fears of a dangerous escalation in Russia’s war in Ukraine on Wednesday, saying a missile blast in Poland was likely an accident, while Kyiv pushed back hard at the idea that its anti-aircraft fire was to blame.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky pointed the finger at Russia, but the United States, like Nato, firmly supported Warsaw’s assessment that the deadly missile was probably fired by Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden yesterday disputed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comment that missiles that landed in Poland were not of Ukrainian origin. “That’s not the evidence,” Mr Biden told reporters at the White House upon returning from a trip to Asia.

The missile killed two people when it struck the village of Przewodow near the Ukrainian border on Tuesday, shocking Nato member Poland.

Both Warsaw and Nato have said the explosion was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile launched to intercept a massive Russian barrage targeting civilian infrastructure — while stressing Moscow was ultimately to blame for starting the conflict

The White House said it had “seen nothing that contradicts” Poland’s preliminary assessment — while also declaring that “the party ultimately responsible for this tragic incident is Russia”.

Mr Zelensky, however, said Kyiv had seen no proof the missile was Ukrainian, demanding to be part of any investigation.

“I have no doubt that this is not our missile,” he said. “I believe that this was a Russian missile, based on our military reports.”

In the immediate aftermath, the incident sparked fears of a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict, with Hungary criticising Mr Zelensky’s denial as setting “a bad example”. But by Wednesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda called it an “unfortunate accident”, saying that while the projectile likely originated from Ukraine’s air defences, the blame lay with Russia because of its attacks.