President Joe Biden said Wednesday that based on “preliminary information” it is “unlikely” a missile that struck Polish territory Tuesday and killed two civilians was fired by Russia.
Biden spoke to reporters in Bali, Indonesia, where he is participating with other top U.S. officials in the ongoing G20 summit. The rocket attack came amidst a flurry of strikes carried out by Russia in Ukraine on Tuesday, attacks Biden condemned as “totally unconscionable.”
Biden says “preliminary” information suggests it is “unlikely” missile that killed two in Poland was fired from Russia.
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“There is preliminary information that contests that,” Biden said after a reporter asked if the missile that landed in Poland had come from Russia. “I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate it. But it is unlikely…that it was fired from Russia.”
Biden cited the trajectory of the missile while giving his assessment, and pledged that the U.S. and its allies would support Poland in its investigation of the incident. Poland, a NATO member, called an emergency crisis meeting with top defense officials after the strike and could conceivably seek to move forward with Article 4 proceedings of the NATO treaty, which would call a meeting of the alliance’s top decision-makers.
The president held an emergency meeting with other top international leaders to discuss the situation Wednesday. (RELATED: Here’s The Casualty Count Of The Russia-Ukraine War So Far)
Poland’s Defense Ministry released a statement late Tuesday stating that a “Russia-made missile had dropped on the village of Przewodów.” Russia denied any culpability in the tragedy, calling it a “deliberate provocation” aimed at escalating the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, according to The New York Times.
Ukraine said Russia launched more than 100 missiles into its territory Tuesday, targeting key civilian and infrastructure targets, Reuters reported. The major northeastern city of Kharkiv was left without power, as was about half of the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.
