NATO does not believe that Russia has attacked Poland and believes that the missile that fell on that country and killed two people came from Ukraine’s air defense, according to the Alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
NATO’s preliminary analysis “suggests that the incident was probably caused by the Ukrainian air defense missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a conference. Press, this Wednesday (11.16.2022).
Stoltenberg asked, in any case, to wait for the results of the investigation that is underway and stressed that, although “you have to react quickly”, you also have to “remain calm and avoid escalation”.
The Norwegian politician stressed that NATO is prepared for such incidents and “guarantees that, if they occur, they do not escape control.”
However, Stoltenberg insisted that “it has not been a deliberate attack against NATO territory” and that they see no indication that Moscow is planning “offensive actions” against the Alliance.
Damage from the impact of a missile in Poland, whose fall left two dead.
He affirmed that this incident “does not have the characteristics of an attack “, which explains that “the actions were what they were”, adding that this “does not say anything about our ability to defend the allied territory”.
In any case, he assured that the “ultimate responsibility” lies with Russia, for having started the war against Ukraine, and that Kyiv “is not guilty.”
“NATO allies are not part of the conflict in Ukraine,” emphasized the Secretary-General, who clarified that the Alliance countries help the attacked country “in its right to self-defense.”
He assured that NATO’s “top priority” “now is to provide more air defense systems for Ukraine.”
The ambassadors of the 30 allies were informed of the situation by the Supreme Commander of the Alliance for Europe (SACEUR), US General Christopher G. Cavoli, as well as by the Polish ambassador.
The situation, Stoltenberg asserted, “demonstrates the dangers connected with the war in Ukraine.”
Asked if they have maintained contacts, including at a technical level, with Russia in the last 24 hours, Stoltenberg stated that they have open channels to communicate “in different ways”, both from NATO and from allied countries, but stated that he could not ” go into details” of the exact contacts in the last few hours.
