POLAND MILITARY ON ALERT AFTER MISSILE STRIKE
PRZEWODOW, POLAND— Poland’s military was on high alert Wednesday after a deadly missile strike on a village near the border with war-ravaged Ukraine.
In Indonesia’s Bali, Western leaders held an “emergency roundtable” on the sidelines of the G20 summit, where they urged against jumping to any conclusions about the origins of the strike.
The talks came after Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said there was no clear evidence of who fired the missile that killed two people in the southeastern village of Przewodow, near the border with Ukraine.
He also said the missile was “most probably Russian-made.”
US President Joe Biden said it was “unlikely” the missile had been fired from Russia, while France urged “utmost caution” in identifying who was behind the blast.
Moscow’s ambassador has been summoned to provide “immediate detailed explanations” and the military had been put on heightened alert after an emergency national security council meeting, Polish authorities said.
“There has been a decision to raise the state of readiness of some combat units and other uniformed services,” spokesperson Piotr Muller told reporters after the meeting in Warsaw, adding that “our services are on the ground at the moment working out what happened.”
Biden spoke by phone with Duda, offering “full US support for and assistance with Poland’s investigation,” the White House said.
The two leaders agreed to “remain in close touch to determine appropriate next steps as the investigation proceeds,” it added.
Nato commitment
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron— all leaders of Nato member states—expressed solidarity with Poland.
Poland is protected by Nato’s commitment to collective defense—enshrined in Article 5 of its founding treaty—but the alliance’s response will likely be heavily influenced by whether the incident was accidental or intentional.
Biden also spoke with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg about the incident, while ambassadors from the alliance were to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday.
‘Significant escalation’
European Union chief Charles Michel said he was “shocked” and US secretary of state Antony Blinken pledged to “remain closely coordinated in the days ahead as the investigation proceeds and we determine appropriate next steps.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier said two Russian missiles hit Poland in what he described as “a very significant escalation.”
Russia’s defense ministry meanwhile dismissed reports that it was to blame as a “provocation” intended to escalate tensions.