Live: Biden says ‘unlikely’ missile that hit Poland fired from Russia
Issued on: 16/11/2022 – 03:55
02:19|
A Russian-produced rocket fell on the Polish village of Przewodow, near the Ukrainian border, at 3:40 pm local time, the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The ministry said it had summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident. Follow FRANCE 24’s live blog for the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
04:34am: Poland likely to invoke NATO’s Article 4, will raise missile blast with UN
Poland is likely to request consultations under NATO’s Article 4 after a missile, reportedly Russian-made, struck Polish territory near the border with Ukraine, and raise the issue at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, officials said.
Two people were killed in an explosion in a village 6 kilometres (3.5 miles) from the border, with Polish President Andrzej Duda saying that Poland had no conclusive evidence showing who fired the missile.
03:52am: UN chief warns against escalating conflict in Ukraine
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres tweeted early Wednesday that he was ‘very concerned by the reports of a missile exploding on Polish territory.’
The UN chief added that ‘it is absolutely essential to avoid escalating the war in Ukraine.’
. is very concerned by the reports of a missile exploding on Polish territory. It is absolutely essential to avoid escalating the war in Ukraine.
He sends his condolences to the families of the victims. He hopes that a thorough investigation will be conducted.
— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson)
03:30am: Poland blast may not be from missile fired from Russia, Biden says
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 by 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 by Russian-made missiles.
Asked whether it was too early to say that the missile was fired from 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, he added.
I spoke with President Andrzej Duda of Poland to express my deep condolences for the loss of life in Eastern Poland and offer our full support for Poland’s investigation of the explosion.
We will remain in close touch to determine appropriate next steps as it proceeds.
— President Biden (@POTUS)
01:15am: G7 leaders arranging emergency summit after Poland missile strike, reports Kyodo news agency
Group of Seven leaders are arranging an emergency summit meeting on Wednesday in response to a missile strike in Poland, the Kyodo news agency said citing a Japanese government source.
A Japan and United Kingdom meeting scheduled for the same day has been put on hold, according to the report.
12:57am: No concrete evidence on who fired missile, Poland’s Duda says
Poland has no concrete evidence showing who fired the missile that caused an explosion in a village near the Ukrainian border, the president said on Wednesday
“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.
01:2412:38am: Poland increasing monitoring of its airspace, PM says
Poland has decided to increase surveillance of its airspace, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday, as he confirmed that Poland was studying the possibility of requesting consultations under Article 4 of the NATO military alliance treaty.
12:04am: Biden offers Poland full US support in blast investigation
President Joe Biden offered his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda full US support with the country’s probe into a blast that killed two people near the border with Ukraine, the White House said.
“President Biden offered full US support for and assistance with Poland’s investigation,” the White House said after the pair spoke.
NATO allies are investigating unconfirmed reports the explosion was caused by stray Russian missiles.
12:02am: UK ‘urgently’ looking into reports of missiles landing in Poland
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a tweet on Tuesday said his country was urgently looking into reports of a missile strike in Poland and will support allies as they establish what happened.
“We are also coordinating with our international partners, including NATO,” Sunak said.
I have just spoken with the Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary.
We are urgently looking into reports of a missile strike in Poland and will support our allies as they establish what has happened.
We are also coordinating with our international partners, including NATO.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak)
11:33pm: Kremlin spokesman says he has no information on incident in Poland
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday he had no information on an explosion in Poland.
“Unfortunately, I have no information on this,” Peskov said in response to a question from Reuters.
The Russian defence ministry denied that Russian missiles had hit Poland.
02:1710:47pm: EU chief calls for meeting of alliance leaders at G20 over Poland
EU chief Charles Michel has said he will call an emergency meeting of EU leaders at the G20 summit in Bali.
In a tweet posted shortly after speaking with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Michel said he assured the Polish leader of the EU’s support.
“Just spoke with [Mateusz Morawiecki]. Assured him of full EU unity and solidarity in support of Poland. I will propose a coordination meeting on Wednesday with EU leaders attending G20 here in Bali,” Michel tweeted.
Just spoke with .
Assured him of full EU unity and solidarity in support of Poland.
I will propose a coordination meeting on Wednesday with EU leaders attending here in .
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel)
10:43pm: Biden talks to Polish counterpart
Polish President Andrzej Duda is now talking to his US counterpart Joe Biden, the head of Poland’s National Security Bureau, Jacek Siewiera, has said in a tweet.
10:30pm: NATO chief says ‘important all facts established’ over Poland ‘explosion’
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has spoken to Polish President Andrzej Duda and has said the alliance is monitoring the situation.
It was important to find out the facts about what caused a deadly “explosion” in Poland, said Stoltenberg.
“Spoke with President Duda about the explosion in Poland. I offered my condolences for the loss of life. NATO is monitoring the situation and Allies are closely consulting. Important that all facts are established,” Stoltenberg tweeted.
Spoke with President Duda about the explosion in . I offered my condolences for the loss of life. is monitoring the situation and Allies are closely consulting. Important that all facts are established.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg)
10:20pm: Poland verifying if NATO Article 4 needs to be activated: spokesman
Poland is verifying if it needs to activate Article 4 of the NATO military alliance treaty, Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller has told reporters.
calls for all NATO members to consult together if a member state feels threatened by another country or a terrorist organisation. The 30 member states then start formal consultations at the request of the threatened member.
Article 4 does not, however, mean that there will be direct pressure on the alliance to act.
This consultation mechanism has been triggered several times in NATO’s history.
Muller also said Poland was increasing the readiness of some military units.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
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