US tells allies not to comment about Poland incident

The United States has warned its European allies to refrain from definitive statements about the Poland incident until investigations are completed.

According to news publication Politico on Friday, US officials told allies to show restraint when commenting on this week's deadly missile blast in Poland.

Three Western officials interviewed by Politico said that over the last couple of days the Americans had asked their European allies, including the office of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, to be cautious when speaking about the cause of the incident.

NATO says preliminary analysis shows Polish blast caused by Ukrainian missile

NATO says the missile that hit Poland recently had likely been fired by the Ukrainian military.

The Americans also made a series of phone calls in which they requested that their NATO allies not make any definitive statements until an investigation about the incident was carried out.

The outreach efforts come as Western and Ukrainian officials have been at loggerheads about who was responsible for the deadly explosion in the Polish village of Przewodow close to the Ukrainian border.

While Western officials have said that the blast was probably caused by a Ukrainian missile, Kiev insists that it was the Russian who fired the projectile at Poland.

Right after the incident, Western states and media outlets initially blamed Russia for the strike. Zelensky rashly pinned the blame on Russia, calling the incident “a very serious escalation” and describing it as an attack on NATO and demanding a response. Later, however, he toned down his claims, admitting that “we do not know 100%” what caused the blast.

However, the Russian Defense Ministry quickly denied any involvement in the incident, saying its military experts had analyzed the photos from the scene and identified the debris as parts of an S-300 air defense system missile used by Ukraine.

"Russian firepower has launched no strikes at the area between [the] Ukrainian-Polish border," Russia's Defense Ministry asserted after the blast.

"The wreckage published by Polish mass media from the scene in Przewodow have no relation to Russian firepower," it declared.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Western narrative was aimed at "a deliberate provocation aimed at escalating the situation."

Russia roundly rejects reports its missile crossed into Poland

Russia roundly rejects reports alleging that a Russian projectile had crossed Ukraine into Poland.

Poland's preliminary assessment of the incident described the projectile that caused the incident as a stray missile fired by Ukraine's air defenses and not a Russian strike.

Polish President Andrzej Duda announced Poland's conclusion that the projectile likely originated from Ukraine's own air defenses.

Duda claimed it was very likely that the Soviet-era missile was launched by Ukraine in what he called an "unfortunate accident".

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg placed the blame on Russia.

Poland missile incident shows West moving closer to World War: Russia official

The deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council has warned the recent missile explosion which killed two people in Poland has pushed the West closer to World War III.

"Let me be clear, this is not Ukraine's fault," the NATO chief said. "Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine."

In the meantime, the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.

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