Poland, Ukraine attempted to drag NATO into war with Russia: Nebenzya

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Nov 2022 09:21
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The Russian envoy to the UN calls out the statements made by Ukraine and Poland as irresponsible and attempts to trigger a clash between Moscow and NATO.

Russia's envoy to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya

Russian envoy to the UN Vasily Nebenzya dubbed the statements made by Ukraine and Poland as "irresponsible" and described them as attempts to cause direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.

"If this meeting hadn’t been scheduled, it would have had to be convened to discuss the attempts of Ukraine and Poland to provoke a direct clash between Russia and NATO. The absolutely irresponsible statements made by the leadership of these two countries cannot be perceived in any other way," stated Nebenzya during a UN Security Council meeting.

The Russian envoy added, "I am highlighting this for the colleagues: These statements came from a person [Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky] that couldn’t fail to have the information that it was Ukrainian missiles fired by an air defense system that flew over to Poland."

"That means it wasn’t just deliberate disinformation but a conscious attempt to prompt NATO, which is waging a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, to get involved in a direct clash with our country," the diplomat said.

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Nebenzya also accused the Polish authorities of intentionally promoting the same agenda against Moscow as Kiev.

"Poland’s Russophobic government wasn’t much different as they said from the start with full confidence that they came under a Russian attack. That country’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador in the dead of the night and issued him a resolute protest," said Nebenzya.

The Russian diplomat pointed out that the first pictures of the missile crash site that went viral on social media networks revealed clearly that the missile that fell into Poland belonged to the Ukrainian air defenses.

"That has already been expressly confirmed by NATO and the West in general," the diplomat said.

Amid reports about missiles that fell in the village of Przewodów in the Lubelskie Voivodeship near the border with Ukraine, Warsaw called for an emergency national security council meeting.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday following the incident that the explosion that hit Poland was "likely caused" by a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to intercept an incoming Russian missile, though the "ultimate responsibility" falls on Moscow, he claimed.

The Pentagon said it was unable to verify reports that Russian missiles hit Poland soils, but it is investigating the claims.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the unconfirmed reports, Ukraine called for NATO members to convene an "immediate" summit to bring tough measures against Moscow.

Due to uncertainty regarding the party that fired the missile, Poland suggested invoking NATO's Article 4, which means that the alliance's members "consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened."

Stoltenberg, however, underlined that "there has been no call for an Article 4 meeting."

The Russian Defense Ministry instantly dismissed Poland's statements about "Russian missiles", saying they were a deliberate provocation to try and escalate the situation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said on Wednesday that according to data, Russia was not the one that fired the missiles.