UN chief warns ‘absolutely essential to avoid escalating’ Ukraine war
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday that it is “absolutely essential” to avoid escalating the Ukraine war after a deadly missile strike in NATO member Poland killed two people.
“The Secretary-General is very concerned by the reports of a missile exploding on Polish territory,” the UN chief said, according to his spokesman Farhan Haq. “It is absolutely essential to avoid escalating the war in Ukraine.”
A Russian-produced rocket fell on the Polish village of Przewodow, near the Ukrainian border, at 3:40 pm local time, the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The ministry said it had summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident.
Poland is likely to request consultations under NATO’s Article 4 after a missile, reportedly Russian-made struck Polish territory near the border with Ukraine, and raise the issue at a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, officials said.
Two people were killed in an explosion in a village 6 kilometres (3.5 miles) from the border, with Polish President Andrzej Duda saying that Poland had no conclusive evidence showing who fired the missile.
