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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Poland Blast May Not Be Due to Missile Fired From Russia, Biden Says

Police block a road, amid reports of two explosions, in Przewodow, Poland, November 15, 2022. Jakub Orzechowski/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via REUTERS

The United States and its NATO allies are investigating the blast that killed two people in Poland, but early information suggests it may not have been caused by a missile fired from Russia, US President Joe Biden said.

Biden spoke after global leaders gathered for the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, held an emergency meeting on Wednesday after a deadly explosion in Przewodow, a village in eastern Poland near the border with Ukraine.

Asked whether it was too early to say that any missile was fired from Russia, Biden said that the trajectory suggested otherwise.

"There is preliminary information that contests that," he told reporters. "I don't want to say that until we completely investigate it but it is unlikely ... that it was fired from Russia, but we'll see."

The US and NATO countries would fully investigate before acting, he added.

"We agreed to support Poland's investigation into the explosion in rural Poland, near the Ukrainian border, and they're going to make sure we figure out exactly what happened," Biden said.

"And then we're going to collectively determine our next step as we investigate and proceed. There was total unanimity among folks at the table."

Leaders from Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom also joined the meeting with Biden.

Poland has said it was verifying whether it needed to request consultations under Article 4 of the alliance, which allows NATO members to bring any issue of concern, especially regarding security, for discussion at the North Atlantic Council.

Poland summoned Russia's ambassador to Warsaw for an explanation after Moscow denied it was responsible.

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