NATO has "no indication" that the explosion that caused two deaths in Poland yesterday "was the result of a deliberate attack and we also have no indication that Russia is preparing offensive actions against the allied countries", declared today the Secretary General of the military organization, Jens Stoltenberg.
"Our preliminary analysis suggests that the incident was probably caused by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense missiles fired to defend Ukrainian territory from Russian missile attacks," he explained at the end of the Atlantic Council meeting held this morning in Brussels and dedicated to the incident registered yesterday in the town of Przewodow, a few kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
Stoltenberg, who has conveyed the condolences of the allies to the families of the victims, has made it clear that Kyiv cannot be held responsible for what happened: "Let's be clear: this is not Ukraine's fault, Russia is ultimately responsible for continuing with this illegal war," stressed the head of the Atlantic Alliance, who condemned the wave of massive attacks launched yesterday by the Moscow army against civilian targets and critical infrastructure in Ukraine. The incident demonstrates, in his opinion, "what this war entails" but "does not change our assessment of the threat it poses to NATO countries."
The assessment shared by Stoltenberg is based on the preliminary results of the investigation opened by the Polish authorities into the incident, shared with the allied ambassadors by the diplomatic representative of Poland in the Atlantic Council. This noon, the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, said that "nothing indicates that it was an attack on Polish territory" and has defined what happened as "an unfortunate event".
Stoltenberg has described as "calm" and "restrained" the reaction of NATO and the allied countries to the alarming information that came yesterday from Poland, which unleashed the latent fear since the beginning of the war that a deliberate attack or an accident could lead to the conflict beyond the borders of Ukraine. "The coordination that has taken place between the allies, the measured responses and the message that was given that first of all you have to clarify the facts before drawing conclusions shows that NATO reacted prudently and responsibly."
Last night, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitro Kuleba, described as "conspiracy theories" that the incident could have occurred as a result of his country's defensive actions against Russian projectiles, a statement that the top NATO leader has preferred not to value, although he has re-emphasized that in no way should Kyiv be blamed for the incident, only Russia for going ahead with this "war of aggression". "If Russia stopped fighting, this war would end. If Ukraine stopped fighting, Ukraine would be finished," Stoltenberg said sympathetically, admitting that any peace negotiations between the parties will depend on the strength of each one in the military field. .
Stoltenberg's statement on behalf of the Atlantic Council is in line with the one agreed last morning in Bali by the leaders of the G-7 and NATO on the sidelines of the G20 summit, which condemns the "barbaric attacks" with missiles that Russia perpetrated on Tuesday against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructures and offers its "full support" to Poland in the investigation into the "explosion" registered yesterday in the east of the country. "We agree to remain in close contact to determine the most appropriate steps as the investigation progresses," said the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the European Council, the European Commission and NATO.
