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Biden says missile that killed two in Poland may not have come from Russia

Published

2 years ago

November 16, 2022

(Last Updated On: )

A missile that killed two people in Poland was probably not fired from Russia, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday after an emergency meeting of NATO leaders called to discuss what Poland called a strike by a Russia-made projectile, Reuters reported.

The explosion on Tuesday at a grain facility near the Ukrainian border came as Russia unleashed a wave of missile attacks targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, raising concerns the conflict could spill into neighbouring countries.

According to Reuters the Polish foreign ministry said the rocket fell on Przewodow, a village about 6 km (4 miles) from the border with Ukraine. Russia denied it was responsible for the explosion but Polish officials said the missile was Russian-made.

A resident who declined to be identified said the two victims were men who were near the weighing area of a grain facility.

A Russian strike on Poland could risk widening the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are committed to collective defence under its Article 5, read the report.

Biden convened a meeting of leaders gathered for the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to discuss the incident. Leaders from NATO members Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France and Britain attended, as well as non-NATO member Japan and representatives from the European Union.

Asked whether it was too early to say if the missile was fired from Russia, Biden said: “There is preliminary information that contests that. I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate it, but it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia but we’ll see.”

The United States and NATO countries would fully investigate before acting, Biden said.

The explosion in Poland came as Russia pounded cities across Ukraine with missiles, in attacks that Kyiv said were the heaviest wave of strikes in nearly nine months of war. Some hit Lviv, which is less than 80 km (50 miles) from the border with Poland, Reuters reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian missiles hit Poland in a “significant escalation” of the conflict. He did not provide evidence of Russia’s involvement.

“All of Europe and the world must be fully protected from terrorist Russia,” he said in a tweet after a phone call with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Two European diplomats said Poland requested a NATO meeting under the treaty’s Article 4 for consultations among the allies. Poland was also increasing the readiness of some military units, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

Polish officials sought to avoid inflaming the situation. Morawiecki called on all Poles to remain calm, and President Duda said there was no concrete evidence showing who fired the missile and that it was a one-off incident, read the report.

Biden told Duda in a call that Washington has an “ironclad commitment to NATO” and will support Poland’s investigation, the White House said.

The Associated Press earlier cited a senior US intelligence official as saying the blast was due to Russian missiles having crossed into Poland.

But in Washington, the Pentagon, White House and US State Department said they could not corroborate the report and were working with the Polish government to gather more information. The State Department said the report was “incredibly concerning.”

Germany and Canada said they were monitoring the situation, and the European Union, the Netherlands and Norway said they were seeking more details. French President Emmanuel Macron ordered a verification effort, while Britain was “urgently” looking into the report.

According to Reuters Russia’s defence ministry denied that Russian missiles hit Polish territory, describing such reports as “a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation”.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he had no information on an explosion in Poland.

Latvian Deputy Prime Minister Artis Pabriks said the situation was “unacceptable” and it could lead to NATO providing more anti-aircraft defences to Poland and Ukraine.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Twitter: “Every inch of #NATO territory must be defended!”

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said Kyiv had warned of the danger Russian missiles posed to neighbouring countries and called for a no-fly zone to be imposed, read the report.

“We were asking to close the sky, because sky has no borders. Not for uncontrolled missiles. Not for the threat they carry for our EU & NATO neighbours. Gloves are off. Time to win,” he said in a Twitter post.

Related Topics:Biden featured Missile NATO Poland Russia

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Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Harris in video of live call

Obama, the first U.S Black president, remains one of the most popular figures in the Democratic party even after more than a decade has passed since he was last elected.

Published

19 hours ago

July 26, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle endorsed Kamala Harris’ bid for president on Friday in a roughly one-minute long video that captured a private phone call between the couple and the current vice president.

“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Obama told Harris.

“I am proud of you. This is going to be historic,” the former first lady told Harris.

Talking into a cell phone and cracking a few smiles, Harris expressed her gratitude for the endorsement and their long friendship.

“Thank you both. It means so much. And we’re gonna have some fun with this too,” Harris said.

The campaign said the video was the actual call, not a reenactment.

Harris’s surprise bid against Republican rival Donald Trump continues to gain steam from supporters, donors and politicians less than a week after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race amid slumping poll numbers.

Obama, the first U.S Black president, remains one of the most popular figures in the Democratic party even after more than a decade has passed since he was last elected.

Obama has lent his support to Biden during big-money fundraisers, which were among some of the biggest blockbuster events of his campaign.

The endorsement could help activate and sustain energy and fundraising for Harris’ campaign and it signals he is likely to get on the campaign trail for Harris once she is officially the presumptive nominee.

Obama initially withheld his endorsement even as Biden, his former vice president, anointed her as his heir apparent. Obama reportedly did not want to put his thumb on the scale as the party worked through the process of determining its nominee. – Reuters

World

Gaza ceasefire negotiations appear to be in closing stages, senior US official says

The senior U.S. official said both Biden and Harris are “completely aligned” on U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza.

Published

2 days ago

July 25, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Negotiations on a ceasefire-for-hostages deal in the Gaza conflict appear to be in their closing stages and U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss remaining gaps on Thursday, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The official, briefing reporters ahead of their talks, said the remaining obstacles are bridgeable and there will be more meetings aimed at reaching a deal between Israel and Hamas over the next week, Reuters reported.

Hamas-led fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct.7, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 captives, according to Israeli tallies, triggering a war in which more than 38,000 people in Gaza have been killed.

Hamas and other militants are still holding 120 hostages; Israel believes around a third of them are dead.

Months of stop-and-start talks have failed to produce a deal to gain release of some of the remaining hostages.

The senior U.S. official said both Israel and Hamas still have some issues to resolve but that a deal is close in which a six-week ceasefire would take place in exchange for the release of women, elderly men and wounded hostages over a 42-day period, read the report.

“It’s a very different negotiation now than just a month ago when we had some fundamentally unbridgeable issues,” the official said.

Biden will hold talks with Netanyahu and then later in the day Vice President Kamala Harris will have a separate meeting with the Israeli leader.

Harris has taken over as the presumed Democratic choice for the November presidential election against Republican Donald Trump, after Biden opted not to seek reelection again under pressure from Democrats concerned about his mental acuity.

The senior U.S. official said both Biden and Harris are “completely aligned” on U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza, Reuters reported.

“The Israelis will hear full alignment,” the official said.

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Harris bashes Trump over ‘fear and hate’ in debut rally

Harris ticked through a list of liberal priorities, saying that if elected she would act to expand abortion access, make it easier for workers to join unions and address gun violence, drawing a sharp contrast with Trump, the Republican nominee for president in the Nov. 5 election.

Published

3 days ago

July 24, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

US Vice President Kamala Harris assailed Donald Trump on Tuesday at her first campaign rally since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate, while a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll showed her taking a marginal lead over her Republican rival.

In a 17-minute speech, Harris aggressively went after Trump’s vulnerabilities, comparing her background as a former prosecutor to his record as a convicted felon, Reuters reported.

“Donald Trump wants to take our country backward,” she told a cheering crowd of several thousand at West Allis Central High School in a Milwaukee suburb in Wisconsin, a battleground state with a pivotal role in deciding the election outcome.

“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”

The raucous rally was a notable contrast to the smaller, more subdued events Biden held, underscoring Democrats’ hope that Harris, 59, can revive what had been a flagging campaign under Biden, 81.

The audience danced and waved Harris signs, while chants of “Ka-ma-la!” broke out when she took the stage.

Harris led Trump 44% to 42% among registered voters in the national Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday after Biden dropped out of the contest on Sunday and endorsed Harris as his successor.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week showed Biden, before he ended his campaign, trailing Trump by two percentage points.

Both were within the poll’s three-point margin of error. But the results could signal limited movement in Democrats’ direction – and may suggest that Harris’ elevation to the top of the ticket blunted whatever momentum Trump hoped to gain from last week’s Republican National Convention, also in Milwaukee.

Trump and his allies have tried to tether Harris to some of Biden’s more unpopular policies, including his administration’s handling of the surge of migrants at the southern border with Mexico.

In a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Trump expressed confidence in his ability to defeat Harris, noting that her previous presidential run in 2020 did not even survive until the first statewide nominating contest.