Based on the latest information, it seems that a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile may have flown into Poland. Despite this, the conflict can still escalate, says UPI director Mika Aaltola.
16.11. 7:59•Updated 16.11. 9:26 a.m
Caution is emphasized in the footsteps of international leaders after the events in Poland. The director of the Foreign Policy Institute who visited in the morning Mika Aaltola says that everyone wants to proceed in a controlled and deliberate manner.
– The easiest explanation is the damage that happened in connection with yesterday’s large-scale attacks. Russia hit Ukraine with a hundred missiles, maybe one of them may have gone astray, or a Ukrainian air defense missile has hit a farm in Poland.
The latter option may turn out to be correct: according to the latest information from the US authorities, a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile may have flown into Poland.
Yesterday, Tuesday, a missile hit the Polish side near the Ukrainian border, killing two civilians in an agricultural area. The Russian Ministry of Defense has denied the attack.
Even if it is not intentional, the conflict can still escalate. The continuation depends on how the events are interpreted, says Aaltola.
– Without the Russian war and yesterday’s large-scale missile attack on Ukraine, this would not have happened. In a way, there is a degree of negligence, that is, Russia’s reckless war spills over.
“This is what America fears”
Ylen’s NATO special reporter Mika Hentunen stresses that NATO “at least won’t go on a rampage in this situation”. He holds the President of the United States Joe Biden careful comments as well descriptive.
Biden emphasized after the meeting of the G7 countries in Bali that the events should be thoroughly investigated.
– Biden’s comment shows how on our toes we are in NATO’s largest country, the United States. This is what the United States fears: if we slide into the area of the fifth article, the United States would be dragged along, Hentunen said in the morning of .
Poland is a member of NATO, and NATO ambassadors are meeting today at the Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg led to an emergency meeting. According to NATO’s fifth article, an attack on one member country must be interpreted as an attack on all, with the result that all must participate in the defense.
Aaltola reminds of an event similar to the missile that hit Poland, where Turkey was hit by an attack from Syria. At that time, the situation did not escalate because it was not interpreted as a systematic attack.
In any case, events are also closely monitored in Finland. According to Aaltola, NATO’s next steps will be instructive for Finland as the country prepares to join the defense alliance.