Russia-Ukraine War: There are “no doubts,” according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, that Ukraine was not to blame for the missile strike that left two people dead in Poland on Tuesday.
Zelensky claimed that his top commanders had assured him that “it wasn’t our missile.”
Additionally, he demanded that Ukrainian officials be given access to the blast site and invited to participate in the probe.
Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO, said Kyiv’s air defence missiles were “very likely” to blame when he made his remarks.
Additionally, US Vice President Joe Biden told reporters that “that’s not the evidence” in response to questions about Mr. Zelensky’s claim that the missile was not made in Ukraine.
Just 6 kilometres (4 miles) from Poland’s border with Ukraine, a farm in Przewodow was the site of a missile explosion.
On Tuesday, when Russia unleashed what is thought to be its largest round of missile strikes since its invasion in February, Ukrainian air defence systems were activated.
The strike, which took place during the G20 conference in Indonesia, sparked international outrage, and reports of a missile blast inside NATO member Poland’s borders stoked concerns about a perilous conflict escalation.
It was “highly probable,” according to Polish President Andrzej Duda, that the missile was fired by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defence.
He informed, “From the information that we and our allies have, it was an S-300 rocket made in the Soviet Union, an old rocket and there is no evidence that it was launched by the Russian side.”
In an interview with the BBC, Mr. Stoltenberg expressed his agreement with Poland’s conclusion that a Ukrainian air defence missile was likely to blame for the event.
The essential takeaway
The essential takeaway, he added, is that Russia is ultimately to blame for what happened because it would not have happened if Russia had not engaged in a horrific campaign of aggression against Ukraine.
He continued by saying that Nato had promised to give Ukraine, a non-member of the alliance but recipient of substantial military funding, a “more modern air defence system.”
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, also claimed that Russia was ultimately to blame for the event.
She mentioned this during a UN Security Council meeting, “While we still don’t know all the facts, we do know one thing – this tragedy would never have happened but for Russia’s needless invasion of Ukraine and its recent missile assaults against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. The UN Charter is clear. Ukraine has every right to defend itself against this barrage.”
In the meantime, the top US general has cautioned that, despite a number of successful Ukrainian counteroffensives in the east and south, an early military victory for Ukraine remained doubtful.
Kherson, the only significant city to have fallen to Russia since its invasion began in February, was retaken by Ukraine last week. In the east, Kyiv’s soldiers have advanced into Donestsk and Luhansk thanks to an attack initiated in September.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen. Mark Milley, told reporters at the Pentagon that The probability of a Ukrainian military victory – defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine to include what they claim as Crimea – the probability of that happening any time soon is not high, militarily.
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However, he asserted that recent Russian defeats made a “political solution” feasible.
Gen Milley, President Biden’s senior military advisor, claimed that Russian successes had put that country “on its back” and suggested that if Moscow suffered losses, it would be willing to agree to some form of political retreat.
However, the top US general made no more mention of the details of that arrangement.
President Zelensky presented a 10-point peace plan earlier this week to attendees of the G20 conference in Bali, outlining nuclear safety assurances, the evacuation of Russian soldiers from Ukrainian territory, and restitution and justice for “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Moscow, criticised Kiev’s demands as “inadequate and unrealistic.” Ukraine “categorically refuses,” he continued, dialogue with Russia.
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