By LORNE COOK
BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg mentioned Wednesday {that a} blast in Poland that killed two folks was in all probability not an assault by Russia, however moderately attributable to a Ukrainian air protection system meant to counter a Russian aerial bombardment.
The two have been killed on Tuesday when a missile got here down in Polish farmland not removed from the border with Ukraine. The blast got here amid a Russian aerial assault in Ukraine and raised deep concern about whether or not Russia may be increasing the conflict by focusing on a NATO member nation.
“An investigation into this incident is ongoing and we need to await its outcome. But we have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack,” Stoltenberg advised reporters after chairing emergency talks between NATO envoys in Brussels.
“This is likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile,” he mentioned, and added that the alliance has “no indication that Russia is preparing action” in opposition to any of its 30 member nations.
But Stoltenberg insisted that the incident occurred due to Russia’s invasion.
“This is not Ukraine’s fault, Russia bears ultimate responsibility,” he mentioned. “The whole incident is caused by Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine.”
Stoltenberg mentioned that neither Poland nor some other ally had known as for emergency consultations underneath Article 4 of NATO’s founding treaty, which gives for such talks if any the allies contemplate that their territory may be underneath risk.
Poland had mentioned late Tuesday that it was contemplating calling for Article 4 consultations.
Earlier Wednesday, three U.S. officers mentioned preliminary assessments counsel the missile was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian projectile, and U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned it was “unlikely” that it was fired from Russia.
The findings are little doubt a reduction to NATO. Since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in February, the group has sought to keep away from being dragged right into a wider conflict.
The world’s largest safety alliance has declined to ship troops into Ukraine and has refused Kyiv’s requests to police a no-fly zone over its cities, which could require allies to shoot down Russian fighter jets or goal air protection methods in Russian territory.
While a few of NATO’s member nations are offering weapons and different help, NATO as a corporation doesn’t. The navy alliance has centered on increase its forces in member nations close to Russia and Ukraine’s borders to dissuade Putin from focusing on them subsequent.
After Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia triggered pressing Article 4 consultations. These are launched when “the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the (NATO) parties is threatened.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com”