BERLIN, Nov 16 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden told G7 and NATO partners that a missile blast in Poland was caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile, a NATO source told Reuters on Wednesday.
The blast raised global alarm that the Ukraine conflict could spill into neighbouring countries.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that an explosion in Polish territory on Tuesday had been caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile, and that Russian strikes in Ukraine had been no closer than 35 km (22 miles) from the Polish border.
“The photos published in the evening of Nov. 15 in Poland of the wreckage found in the village of Przewodow are unequivocally identified by Russian defence industry specialists as elements of an anti-aircraft guided missile of the S-300 air defence system of the Ukrainian air force,” RIA news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying.
It was not possible to independently verify the images or the identification.
NATO member Poland’s president said earlier that Warsaw had no concrete evidence to determine who fired a missile that struck a Polish grain facility some 6 km (4 miles) inside the border with Ukraine, killing two people.
A NATO source said U.S. President Joe Biden had informed Group of Seven and NATO partners that the blast in Poland had been caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile.
Earlier Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that he respects Russia’s statement that Russian missiles had not hit Polish territory, adding that he believes Moscow had “nothing to do with it.”
“Russia saying this has nothing to do with them and (U.S. President Joe) Biden saying these missiles are not Russian-made show that this has nothing to do with Russia,” Erdogan said at a news conference during the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
Erdogan said the situation needs to be investigated and that he will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he returns to Turkey.
Initial findings suggest that the missile that hit Poland was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian missile, Associated Press reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. officials.
The United States and its NATO allies are investigating the blast that killed two people in Poland, but early information suggests it may not have been caused by a missile fired from Russia, U.S. President Joe Biden said.
Biden spoke after global leaders gathered for the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, held an emergency meeting on Wednesday after a deadly explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine.
Ukraine and Polish authorities said the explosions, which killed two people, were caused by Russian-made missiles.
Asked whether it was too early to say that any missile was fired from Russia, Biden said that the trajectory suggested otherwise.
“There is preliminary information that contests that,” he told reporters. “I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate it but it is unlikely … that it was fired from Russia, but we’ll see.”
The U.S. and NATO countries would fully investigate before acting, he added.
The statement left open a number of questions, including whether Biden meant Russia likely had no culpability in the blast at all. The White House did not immediately clarify the comment.
Biden, however, condemned Russia for ramping up missile attacks within Ukraine, calling recent strikes and their civilian casualties “totally unconscionable.”
The emergency meeting was convened by Biden, the White House said.
“We agreed to support Poland’s investigation into the explosion in rural Poland, near the Ukrainian border, and they’re going to make sure we figure out exactly what happened,” Biden said.
“And then we’re going to collectively determine our next step as we investigate and proceed. There was total unanimity among folks at the table.”
A White House official later said Biden would support the process, though not necessarily the conclusions, of the Polish investigation.
Leaders from Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom also joined the meeting with Biden.
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.
Poland has no conclusive evidence showing who fired the missile that caused an explosion in a village near the Ukrainian border, the Polish president said on Wednesday, adding that Warsaw remained calm in the face of what he described as a “one-off” incident.
“We do not have any conclusive evidence at the moment as to who launched this missile … it was most likely a Russian-made missile, but this is all still under investigation at the moment,” Andrzej Duda told reporters.
The Polish foreign ministry had earlier said that a Russian-made rocket had fallen on the village.
Duda said that it was very likely that Poland would request consultations under Article 4 of the NATO military alliance following the blast.
“Our ambassador will be attending the meeting of the North Atlantic Council tomorrow at 10 a.m. at NATO headquarters … it is highly likely that the ambassador will request the activation of Article 4, or allied consultations,” he said.
Duda spoke after Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland would increase surveillance of its airspace following the incident.
“We decided to increase the combat readiness of selected units of the Polish armed forces, with particular emphasis on airspace monitoring,” Morawiecki said.
