Poland blast may not be from Russian missile, says Joe Biden
The United States and its NATO allies are investigating the blast that killed two in Poland, but early information suggests it may not have been caused a missile fired from Russia, US President Joe Biden said.
Biden spoke after global leaders gathered for the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, held an emergency meeting on Wednesday after deadly explosions in Poland that Ukraine and Polish authorities said were caused Russian-made missiles.
Asked about claims that the blast was linked to Russia, Biden said: “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.”
The US and NATO countries would fully investigate before acting, Biden said.
The meeting was convened Biden, the White House said, after two people were killed in an explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine.
BREAKING: Biden says the missile that hit Poland is unlikely to have come from Russia pic.twitter.com/mWaHlBuqgl
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) November 16, 2022
Leaders from the United States, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom were taking part in the meeting.
All except for Japan are members of NATO, the defense alliance that also includes Poland.
A determination that Moscow was to blame for the blast could trigger NATO’s principle of collective defense known as Article 5, in which an attack on one of the Western alliance’s members is deemed an attack on all, starting deliberations on a potential military response.
Poland has said it was verifying whether it needed to request consultations under Article 4 of the alliance, which allows NATO members to bring any issue of concern, especially regarding security, for discussion at the North Atlantic Council.
Poland summoned Russia’s ambassador to Warsaw for an explanation after Moscow denied it was responsible.
