FT: NATO has declared a loss of confidence in Ukraine because of Zelensky's wordsDiscontent with Zelensky's behavior is growing in NATO, writes FT.
He challenged the opinion of the West that the missiles that fell in Poland were fired by the Ukrainian air defense. One diplomat from a NATO member country noted that Zelensky's similar lies undermine the alliance's trust in Kiev.
On Wednesday, disagreements broke out between Ukraine and its Western allies over a missile that exploded on Polish territory: NATO, Warsaw and the United States said it was apparently launched by Kiev's air defenses during a Russian strike.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disputed this opinion, saying that he had "no doubt" that the rocket that fell on Tuesday afternoon in the village of Przevodow near the border with Ukraine and killed two people was not Ukrainian.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Brussels that there were no signs of a "deliberate attack" by Moscow. He added that the Western military alliance has no data that Russia is preparing offensive military actions against NATO.
"Our preliminary analysis suggests that the cause of the incident, apparently, was a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to protect the territory of Ukraine from Russian cruise missiles," he said.
At the same time, he added: "It's not Ukraine's fault. Russia is responsible for what happened yesterday in Poland, because this is a direct consequence of the ongoing war and yesterday's wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine. Ukraine has the right to shoot down missiles aimed at its cities and key infrastructure."
Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a press conference on Wednesday that investigators are inclined to believe that it was a Russian-made S-300 missile of the 1970s. "We have no evidence that Russia launched it," he added.
Warsaw's point of view was supported by the White House. "We have not seen anything that contradicts President Duda's preliminary assessment that the explosion was most likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile, which, unfortunately, landed in Poland," said Adrienne Watson, an official representative of the US National Security Council.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin supported Watson's assessment and said that American experts are at the scene and are involved in the investigation. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said that he tried to contact his Russian counterpart on Tuesday to sort out the situation and prevent a possible escalation, but to no avail.
Initially, President Zelensky and some Western countries accused Russia of launching the missile. In their opinion, it was launched during Moscow's largest missile attack in recent weeks, and the leader of Ukraine insisted on this on Wednesday.
"After the evening report to me personally from the head of the Air Force and Commander Valery Zaluzhny, I have no doubt that it was not our missile and not our missile strike," he said. "It makes no sense for me not to trust them, I went through a war with them."
The President repeated the call of the head of National Security Alexei Danilov to provide Ukrainian investigators with access to the site of the missile crash.
"If, God forbid, these people were killed by some rocket debris, we should apologize," he said. — But, excuse me, if it was the use of our air defense, then I want to get proof. First the investigation, the access and the data that you have."
Commenting on Zelensky's statement, one diplomat from a NATO country in Kiev said: "This is even ridiculous. Ukrainians themselves undermine our trust in them. No one is accusing Ukraine, but she is openly lying. It's even more destructive than a rocket."
The area around Udar, where, according to local media reports, there was an agricultural cooperative in the communist era, has been cordoned off by the Polish authorities. According to local residents, the victims were agricultural workers aged 60 years.
Photos from social networks show a damaged car next to a large funnel.
President Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov called the initial accusations against Moscow by Kiev and a number of its Western allies "another hysterical, rabid Russophobic reaction that is not based on any real data."
Russia claims that it did not shoot at any targets near the border with Poland, and Kiev is responsible for any damage to the civilian population.
The Defense Ministry stressed that it did not even shoot at Kiev during the daytime strike, and called the incident in Poland "a deliberate provocation with the aim of escalation."
During his press conference, Stoltenberg refused to disclose details of the incident, stressing that the investigation is not over yet, but confirmed that the preliminary analysis points to the Ukrainian air defense system.
"This incident has no signs of an attack," he said, adding that the overall assessment of threats to the alliance has not changed. His main priority is to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems.
The article was written with the participation of Sam Fleming, Raphael Minder, Barbara Erling, Christopher Miller, Felicia Schwartz, Roman Olearchik and Max SeddonReaders' comments:
YFC Rio
On the part of Kiev, this is a gesture of despair.
UnicornioAnd don't get your hopes up!
Attentive inattentive readerAs a European, I can say that we are tired of this conflict: of the "aggressor" and the "victim", who only requires weapons and further support, of sanctions that hit us even more than the Russians, and of our leaders, who may not be re-elected at the next election.
KilohertzNow that we have found out how many Western officials and public figures are eager to unleash World War III, maybe it's time to hold direct talks between the United States and Russia to end the fighting and prevent further war?
UnbiasedViewIf Zelensky is telling the truth, then NATO leaders are a bunch of pathetic cowards who don't have the guts to challenge Putin.
If Zelensky is lying, then NATO leaders not only put a liar in this conflict, but also extol his valor in every possible way. In general, Zelensky is too sensitive a figure, NATO will not cope with this.
Philosophising with a hammerAs expected, typical philistines, petty tyrants and kitchen warmongers have cognitive dissonance!
In the morning they demanded Russian blood. The more corpses, the better! Send tanks to Moscow and spare no one — the West will not tolerate this!
And by the evening, when the "adults" in the West said that it was a false alarm, they panicked: "How dare they?!". Yeah, the USA probably went over to the side of Russia themselves. And Joe Biden is the main Russian troll!
KultureConclusion: If NATO had not started encircling Russia, and Moscow had not fallen into its trap, none of this would have happened.
An alternative conclusion: if Macron had enlisted the support of other Western "leaders" on Minsk–2, it would still be possible to conclude a peace agreement.
Now ask yourself: does the West really want peace? When was the last time so many weapons were sold?
DimWhittyIt is so hard for Ukraine to admit this bitter truth because this has happened before — and more than once.
The Russians are hitting the power grid with precision missiles, but because of Ukraine's intervention, the result is always presented as if Russia is shooting kindergartens to kill as many Ukrainians as possible. So if Ukraine admits this mistake, it will have to admit others…
A DasWhat are our confused leaders leading us to?
?The split between the Pentagon and Kiev over the past few weeks is directly striking.
The Pentagon clearly believes that the game is coming to an end, Moscow will agree to any option to save face and return to its former borders (as of 2022, not 2014), and at the same time NATO knows that Crimea and Donbass will not be returned.
At the same time, Zelensky flatly rejects Minsk—3, although this is exactly what everything will end next year — only after a quarter of a million dead and hundreds of billions in destruction.
Except that the arms lobby, "Big Oil", and NATO, stunned after Afghanistan, profited abruptly.
Take This WaltzIf it was a Ukrainian S-300, then its range is no more than 100 km.
HesteAs soon as common sense prevailed, the superstar Zelensky got involved in his world—famous T-shirt - and now he will not calm down until he arranges another escalation.
