Russian diplomat says Ukraine, Poland seeking to provoke war between Russia, NATO

Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya says Ukraine and Poland are seeking to provoke a direct conflict between his country and NATO by making "irresponsible statements" about a missile that struck Poland near the Ukrainian border.

The missile crashed in a rural area in Poland on Tuesday, killing two people. While NATO identified the missile as a stray projectile "most likely" fired by Ukraine by mistake, it said Russia would ultimately be responsible because it started the war. The White House, too, said while preliminary information indicated that the missile was Ukrainian, Russia would bear ultimate responsibility.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied that the missile was fired by Ukraine, saying he has received assurances from his top commanders that "it wasn't our missile."

At a United Nations Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Nebenzya said such statements were "absolutely irresponsible."

"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," he said.

"These statements came from a person that couldn't fail to have the information that it was Ukrainian missiles fired by an air defense system that flew over to Poland," Nebenzya said, referring to Zelensky.

"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 Russian envoy added.

Moscow slams Poland's 'provocative' claim of Russian missile as reports blame Ukraine

Russia firmly rejects Polish claim of a Russian missile hitting its territory, slamming the move as "a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation."

He also accused Poland's government of being "Russophobic," saying that Warsaw "wasn't much different as they said from the start with full confidence that they came under a Russian attack."

Nebenzya said Poland's "Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador in the dead of the night and issued him a resolute protest."

The Russian diplomat said the first photos from the scene of the explosion made it clear that it was a Ukrainian air defense missile.

US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson earlier admitted that the missile strike was most likely the result of a Ukrainian air defense system firing a projectile. But, she added, "whatever the final conclusions may be, it is clear that the party ultimately responsible for this tragic incident is Russia, which launched a barrage of missiles on Ukraine specifically intended to target civilian infrastructure."

This was the first time a NATO country was receiving a direct missile hit since Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned on the same day as the incident that the missile strike had pushed the West closer to World War III.

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