Stoltenberg: The Russian Federation is to blame, but the attack on Poland was not planned, but a Ukrainian missile
The reaction of the allied countries of the North Atlantic Alliance to the incident with a missile strike on the territory of Poland will be an increase in the supply of air defense and missile defense to Ukraine, as well as an increase in the concentration of troops on the eastern flank.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated this at a briefing, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
He called for waiting for the investigation to be completed, “however, now there is no indication that this was a planned attack, and there is also no evidence that Russia is preparing an attack on NATO countries.”
“As a result of the analysis, we are considering the possibility that Ukrainian air defense missiles could have entered Polish territory. However, I want to say clearly: if this is so, then it is not Ukraine’s fault. Russia bears full responsibility for such accidents, because it is Russia that continues its war on the territory of Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.
At the same time, during the briefing, the Secretary General said several times that the likelihood that the missile is Ukrainian is very high.
When asked how this incident would affect air defense supplies to Ukraine, he replied that today’s meeting would decide everything, but we can already say that more and more NATO members and allies, such as Spain and Sweden, are declaring their readiness to provide air defense and missile defense systems. defense
According to Stoltenberg, since there are no signs of a Russian-planned attack, NATO countries have nothing to fear, since the alliance is already sufficiently focused on the eastern flank, so that the concentration of troops is sufficient to react in the event of a direct threat to the member countries of the alliance.
He added that to prevent such incidents, NATO provides “non-stop” assistance to the defense of Ukraine, and also added that NATO air defense operates around the clock. However, since this strike was not a planned attack, it cannot be said that the alliance was incapable of protecting its allies.
Commenting on the situation, State Duma deputy Oleg Matveychev expressed the opinion that initially Polish hopes for Article 5 were in vain.
“Article 5 says that there is some kind of collective defense, but not a word about the fact that nuclear weapons should be used, that NATO is interceding with all its might for someone, etc. The assistance provided to a NATO member country can be anything - moral, psychological, assistance in the form of diapers or medical masks. Nobody says that this assistance includes such things as nuclear strikes against the aggressor, etc.
Article 5 is a huge deception of the Americans regarding all other NATO members. Americans will never expose their New Yorks and Washingtons to retaliatory nuclear strikes because of some Poland,” Matveychev told PolitNavigator.
“Hence the very quick reaction of Stoltenberg and Biden that Russia is not to blame for anything. Even though they always want to blame the Russian side, and Russia is always to blame, here they clearly understand that they will simply find themselves in a stupid situation and still will not be able to do anything against Russia,” the deputy explained.
Stoltenberg : Russia is to blame, but the attack on Poland was unplanned, and the missile was Ukrainian.