Poland’s president says the rocket that hit a small Polish village, killing two, was “very likely” part of Ukraine’s anti-missile defence system.
The Kremlin praises Washington’s “measured” response after the incident as US President Joe Biden says it is “unlikely” the missile came from Russia.
Russia says it is banning entry to 52 Irish politicians, including Prime Minister Micheal Martin, accusing Dublin of waging “an aggressive anti-Russian propaganda campaign”.
The ban includes Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, the foreign, justice and finance ministers and several parliamentarians.
This is the latest move by Russia against prominent figures from Western countries that have condemned its war in Ukraine.
As a member of the European Union, Ireland has joined sanctions against Russia over its February 24 invasion, and the two countries have expelled some of each other’s diplomats.
Talking to reporters at the G20 summit in Bali, Meloni said she spoke to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
“The possibility that the missile falling on Poland was not a Russian missile but a Ukrainian one changes very little,” she said.
NATO added there was no indication of a deliberate attack or that Russia was preparing offensive military actions against the bloc.
But, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that the blame for the explosions lies with Russia.
“This is not Ukraine’s fault. Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine,” he said.
Defence ministry spokesman Christian Thiels said at a news conference, “As an immediate reaction to the incidents in Poland, we will offer to strengthen air policing with combat air patrols over its airspace with German Eurofighters”.
“This can happen from tomorrow, if Poland so wishes”.
He said the planes would be launched “from German air bases” without needing to relocate the jets to Poland.
Such patrols take place in “specific airspaces”, which are “agreed exactly with the Polish side”, Thiels said.
Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that European countries should “close the sky” over Ukraine after a missile landed in Poland.
“Only Russia is responsible for the war in Ukraine and massive missile strikes. Only Russia is behind the rapidly growing risks for the border countries. No need to look for excuses and postpone key decisions. Time for Europe to “close the sky over Ukraine”. For your own safety too…”
But the German spokesperson rejected this and said: “Together with all our allies we are agreed that we want to avoid a further escalation of this war in Ukraine.”
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda says it is “very likely” that the missile that struck a Polish border village was from Ukraine’s air defence.
“Absolutely nothing indicates that this was an intentional attack on Poland … It’s very likely that it was a rocket used in anti-missile defence, meaning that it was used by Ukraine’s defence forces,” he told reporters.
While the origins of the missiles are still being investigated, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy told G20 leaders there was a “terrorist state” among them and accused Russia of launching the missile attack.
Poland explosions overshadowing G20 talks: AJ Correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from the G20 summit in Indonesia, said the explosion in Poland was “very much overshadowing” the last day of the meeting.
“There is still a lot of confusion surrounding the missile; it was reportedly Russian-made, but where it was fired from is still a subject of dispute,” McBride said.
“But it is looking increasingly likely that it was possibly fired from inside Ukraine,” he said, noting there were growing reports suggesting the blast was caused by an S-300 surface-to-air missile.
“That would seem to indicate that it might have come from a Ukrainian air defence battery responding to incoming Russian missiles.
“But I think the point that will be made by the US and its allies, even if it is determined to have been a Ukrainian missile, is that it was fired as a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he added.
Kremlin praises US for its ‘measured’ response
The Kremlin has praised Washington’s “measured” response after a missile landed in Poland and US President Joe Biden said it was “unlikely” that it had come from Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “In this instance, attention should be paid to the measured and more professional response from the American side.
“As for the incident in Poland, Russia has nothing to do with it”.
After being asked whether the missile had been fired from Russia, Biden said there was “preliminary information that contests that”.
