INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A missile that killed two people in Poland was probably not fired from Russia, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday after an emergency
meeting of NATO leaders called to discuss what Poland called a strike by a Russia-made projectile, Reuters reported.The explosion on Tuesday
at a grain facility near the Ukrainian border came as Russia unleashed a wave of missile attacks targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure,
raising concerns the conflict could spill into neighbouring countries.According to Reuters the Polish foreign ministry said the rocket fell
on Przewodow, a village about 6 km (4 miles) from the border with Ukraine
Russia denied it was responsible for the explosion but Polish officials said the missile was Russian-made.A resident who declined to be
identified said the two victims were men who were near the weighing area of a grain facility.A Russian strike on Poland could risk widening
the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are committed to collective defence
under its Article 5, read the report.Biden convened a meeting of leaders gathered for the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to discuss the
Leaders from NATO members Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France and Britain attended, as well as non-NATO member Japan and
representatives from the European Union.Asked whether it was too early to say if the missile was fired from Russia, Biden said: &There is
preliminary information that contests that
I don&t want to say that until we completely investigate it, but it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia
but we&ll see.&The United States and NATO countries would fully investigate before acting, Biden said.The explosion in Poland came as Russia
pounded cities across Ukraine with missiles, in attacks that Kyiv said were the heaviest wave of strikes in nearly nine months of war
Some hit Lviv, which is less than 80 km (50 miles) from the border with Poland, Reuters reported.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
said Russian missiles hit Poland in a &significant escalation& of the conflict
He did not provide evidence of Russia&s involvement.&All of Europe and the world must be fully protected from terrorist Russia,& he said in
a tweet after a phone call with Polish President Andrzej Duda.Two European diplomats said Poland requested a NATO meeting under the treaty&s
Article 4 for consultations among the allies
Poland was also increasing the readiness of some military units, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.Polish officials sought to
avoid inflaming the situation
Morawiecki called on all Poles to remain calm, and President Duda said there was no concrete evidence showing who fired the missile and that
it was a one-off incident, read the report.Biden told Duda in a call that Washington has an &ironclad commitment to NATO& and will support
Poland&s investigation, the White House said.The Associated Press earlier cited a senior US intelligence official as saying the blast was
due to Russian missiles having crossed into Poland.But in Washington, the Pentagon, White House and US State Department said they could not
corroborate the report and were working with the Polish government to gather more information
The State Department said the report was &incredibly concerning.&Germany and Canada said they were monitoring the situation, and the
European Union, the Netherlands and Norway said they were seeking more details
French President Emmanuel Macron ordered a verification effort, while Britain was &urgently& looking into the report.According to Reuters
Russia&s defence ministry denied that Russian missiles hit Polish territory, describing such reports as &a deliberate provocation aimed at
escalating the situation&.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he had no information on an explosion in Poland.Latvian Deputy Prime
Minister Artis Pabriks said the situation was &unacceptable& and it could lead to NATO providing more anti-aircraft defences to Poland and
Ukraine.Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Twitter: &Every inch of #NATO territory must be defended!&Ukrainian Defence Minister
Oleksiy Reznikov said Kyiv had warned of the danger Russian missiles posed to neighbouring countries and called for a no-fly zone to be
imposed, read the report.&We were asking to close the sky, because sky has no borders
Not for uncontrolled missiles
Not for the threat they carry for our EU - NATO neighbours
Time to win,& he said in a Twitter post.The post Biden says missile that killed two in Poland may not have come from Russia first appeared
