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US President Biden convenes 'emergency’ meeting of global leaders over missile strike on Poland
Leaders from the United States, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom were taking part in the meeting. All except for Japan are members of NATO, the defence alliance that also includes Poland.
Global leaders gathered for the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, were holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday after deadly explosions in Poland that Ukraine and Polish authorities said were caused by Russian-made missiles. The meeting was convened by U.S. President Joe Biden, the White House said, after two people were killed in an explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine.
Biden said that it was “unlikely” that a missile that killed two in NATO-ally Poland was fired from Russia, but pledged support for Poland's investigation into what it had called a “Russian-made” missile, reported AP.
Also Read | Poland blast: What NATO's Articles 4 & 5 say as Russia blamed for missile strike
“There is preliminary information that contests that," Biden told reporters when asked about the the missile's origin being Russia. “It is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we’ll see.”
Leaders from the United States, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom were taking part in the meeting. All except for Japan are members of NATO, the defense alliance that also includes Poland.
Also Read | Russian missiles cross into Poland during strike: Report
A determination that Moscow was to blame for the blast could trigger NATO's principle of collective defense known as Article 5, in which an attack on one of the Western alliance's members is deemed an attack on all, starting deliberations on a potential military response.
Also Read | Poland military on alert after ‘Russian-made missile’ kills two | Top updates
The leaders were briefly seen together around a conference table at the start of the meeting. Biden said "no" when reporters asked whether he could share what he knows about the explosion. He did not comment when asked about what involvement Russia might have.
Officials said it was not clear how long the meeting would last.
Poland summoned Russia's ambassador to Warsaw for an explanation after Moscow denied it was responsible.
