BEIJING, Nov 16 (Reuters) – All parties should “stay calm and exercise restraint under current circumstances,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, told a regular briefing on Wednesday, in remarks about a Russian-made missile that landed in Poland.
NATO will hold an emergency meeting at 10.00 CET (0900 GMT) on Wednesday to discuss an explosion in eastern Poland close to the Ukrainian border that killed two people on Tuesday, two NATO officials and a European diplomat said.
The gathering of NATO ambassadors in Brussels will be chaired by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who will hold a news conference around 12.30 CET, NATO said in a statement.
NATO member Poland has said the rocket killed two people in a village about 6 km (4 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden said earlier on Wednesday that it was probably not fired from Russia, after holding talks with leaders of Western allies amid concerns the Ukraine conflict could spill into neighbouring countries.
The explosion on Tuesday at a grain facility near the Ukrainian border came as Russia unleashed a wave of missiles targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, attacks that Kyiv said were the heaviest in nearly nine months of war.
Poland’s national security council (BBN) said on Wednesday it will meet again at 1100 GMT amid concerns the Ukraine conflict could spill into neighbouring countries after Tuesday’s missile strike that killed two people.
“The BBN is currently analysing the arrangements made so far with commanders, service chiefs and allies,” BBN head Jacek Siewiera said in a post on Twitter.
The Polish security council had first met on Tuesday night following news of the strike.
NATO member Poland’s president early on Wednesday said the country had no concrete evidence showing who fired the missile, which struck a Polish grain facility some 6 km (4 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
U.S. President Joe Biden said the missile was probably not fired from Russia.
According to U.S. officials, initial findings suggested that the missile that hit Poland was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile, the Associated Press said.
(Reporting by Joanna Plucinska and Pawel Florkiewicz, writing by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
