Bali: World leaders gathered on the side lines of the G20 summit here in Indonesia on Wednesday to discuss the Poland situation, and US President Joe Biden said it was “unlikely” that the missile was fired from Russia.
“I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate, but it’s unlikely in the minds of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we’ll see.”
The blast in Poland came as Russia launched one of its biggest barrages of missiles against Ukraine on Tuesday, days after its troops were forced to evacuate Kherson.
Ukraine capital Kyiv was among the cities hit, with officials saying at least one person was found dead, the BBC said.
Biden said that world leaders will determine the next steps after finding out what happened – following investigations taking place in Poland.
A press note issued by the White House said:
Biden met with the leaders of NATO and the G7 and — to talk about the latest events in Europe.
He briefed them on his discussions with President Duda of Poland, as well as NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg.
“And we agreed to support Poland’s investigation into the explosion in rural Poland, near the Ukrainian border. And I’m going to make sure we figure out exactly what happened.
“Our empathy — sympathy goes out to — apparently, two people were killed.
“And then we’re going to collectively determine our next step as we investigate and proceed. There was total unanimity among the folks at the table.
“And we also discussed the latest series of Russian missile attacks, which are continuing the brutality and inhumanity that they’ve demonstrated throughout this war against Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructures.
Biden came down stronly on Moscow and said: “They’ve been totally unconscionable, what they’re doing. Totally unconscionable.
“And the moment when the world came together at the G20 to urge de-escalation, Russia continues to — has chosen to escalate in Ukraine, while we’re meeting. I mean, there were scores and scores of attack — missile attacks into western Ukraine.
“We support Ukraine fully in this moment, and we have — we have since the start of this conflict. And we’re going to continue to do whatever it takes to give them the capacity to defend themselves.
Asked to clarify whether the missile hitting Polland was fired from Russia, Biden said: “There is preliminary information that contests that. I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate.
“But it is — I — it’s unlikely, in the minds of the trajectory, that it was fired from Russia. But we’ll see. We’ll see.
He also said Poland’s next step on whether to invoke Article 4 or 5 from NATO, will be on the consensus after a meeting of the ambassadors in Bali.
