Russia-Ukraine war live news: Biden says ‘unlikely’ that Poland missile was fired from Russia

Nato and G7 leaders have condemned Russia’s “barbaric missile attacks” on Ukraine in a statement following the emergency meeting held earlier with members in Bali.

The leaders of Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States met on the margins of the G20 Summit and released the following statement:

We condemn the barbaric missile attacks that Russia perpetrated on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure on Tuesday.

We discussed the explosion that took place in the eastern part of Poland near the border with Ukraine. We offer our full support for and assistance with Poland’s ongoing investigation. We agree to remain in close touch to determine appropriate next steps as the investigation proceeds.

We reaffirm our steadfast support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the face of ongoing Russian aggression, as well as our continued readiness to hold Russia accountable for its brazen attacks on Ukrainian communities.”

US president Joe Biden has spoken to reporters after an emergency meeting with Nato and G7 leaders in Bali.

Biden said the group would support Poland’s investigation into the incident.

“I’m going to make sure we figure out exactly what happened … Then we’re going to figure out our next step.”

Responding to a question as to whether the missile was fired from Russia, Biden said:

There is preliminary information that contests that. I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate.

But it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia, but we’ll see.”

The president added that it was “unlikely” the missile was fired from Russia possibly due to the weapon’s trajectory.

He described Russia’s continued missile attacks on Ukraine as “totally unconscionable”.

Poland’s president Andrzej Duda has said there is so far no “conclusive evidence” as to who launched a missile into Polish territory but it is “most likely” to have been Russian-made.

Duda has said that the explosion in Przewodów was a “one-off incident” and there are “no indications” that it is going to happen again.

We do not have any conclusive evidence at the moment as to who launched this missile … it was most likely a Russian-made missile, but this is all still under investigation at the moment,” Andrzej Duda told reporters.

The Polish foreign ministry had earlier said that a Russian-made rocket had fallen on the village.

Duda spoke after prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland would increase surveillance of its airspace following the incident.

“We decided to increase the combat readiness of selected units of the Polish armed forces, with particular emphasis on airspace monitoring,” Morawiecki said.

Morawiecki also asked for people to be restrained. “I call on all Poles to remain calm around this tragedy. Let’s be prudent, let’s not let ourselves be manipulated.

“We need to be ready to face fake news, propaganda efforts.”

Russia has denied its missiles crossed into Poland, calling the reports a “deliberate provocation”.

A statement from the Russian defence ministry read:

The statements of the Polish media and officials about the alleged fall of ‘Russian’ missiles in the area of Przewodów is a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation. No strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border were made by Russian rockets.”

The Russian foreign ministry added in a statement published on Telegram:

Polish mass media and officials commit deliberate provocation to escalate situation with their statement on alleged impact of ‘Russian’ rockets at Przewodów. Russian hardware has launched NO strikes at the area.”

Some analysts said they believed photographs of missile debris at the scene showed a Ukrainian S-300 air defence system that would have been engaged in shooting down a Russian missile, but it was not possible to corroborate those reports.

Nato and global leaders are set to meet on Wednesday after a Russian-made rocket fell on Nato member Poland and killed two people, raising concerns that the Ukraine conflict could spill over its borders.

Two European diplomats said Poland requested the Nato meeting under the treaty’s Article 4, which allows for all Nato allies to be brought together when the “territorial integrity, political independence or security” of any member has been threatened.

A Nato official said the alliance was closely coordinating with Poland, according to a Reuters report.

Fabrice Pothier, former head of policy planning in the Nato secretary-general’s office, told Sky TV that in a Nato meeting officials would “consult each other, to assess the threat and to take concrete action.”

Latvian deputy prime minister Artis Pabriks said the situation was “unacceptable” and it could lead to Nato providing more anti-aircraft defences to Poland and Ukraine, a view Pothier endorsed.

“Every inch of Nato territory must be defended!,” Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda said on Twitter.

A deliberate attack on a Nato member could in theory lead to the invocation of the alliance’s article 5, which states that an attack on one member of the military alliance is considered an attack against all. But the Nato treaty is highly unlikely to be triggered by an accidental attack.

Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki also said the country would be increasing the readiness of some military units.

Poland’s government said it has also summoned Moscow’s ambassador for an explanation.

A “Russian-made missile” fell on the Polish village of Przewodów, near the Ukrainian border, killing two people on Tuesday afternoon, Poland’s foreign ministry reported, in what would be the first time Nato territory has been struck during the Ukraine war.

Foreign affairs spokesperson Lukasz Jasina said in a statement released on Tuesday:

On 15 November 2022, massive shelling of the entire territory of Ukraine and its critical infrastructure by the armed forces of the Russian Federation was observed for many hours.

At 15.40 in the village of Przewodów … a Russian-made missile fell, killing two citizens of the republic of Poland.”

It was not clear who launched the missile that landed a few miles away from the Ukrainian border, Poland’s president Andrzej Duda said, but he and other officials claimed it was likely to be “Russian-made”.

That could mean it was a Russian munition which may have veered off course, but it could also have been a missile from Ukrainian S-300 air defence system, weapons which experts said were originally made in Russia.

Two farmers were killed and a tractor destroyed after a large explosion in the eastern village.

G7 leaders hold emergency summit after Poland explosion

Jessica Elgot

Members of the G7 and Nato countries who are gathered in Bali for the G20 summit have held a snap meeting after “Russian-made missiles” landed in Poland, killing two people.

The meeting was attended by US president Joe Biden, the UK’s Rishi Sunak, Germany’s Olaf Scholz, France’s president Emmanuel Macron, Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau, the EU’s Ursula Von der Leyen, Japan’s Fumio Kishida, the Netherlands’ Mark Rutte, as well as Spain’s Pedro Sanchez, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and EU council president Charles Michel.

Biden, Sunak and Scholz spoke to Poland’s president Andrzej Duda earlier in the morning.

The rest of the summit which concludes on Wednesday afternoon is likely to be dominated by the response to the strikes.

Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold over the next few hours.

Poland will likely call for an emergency meeting of all Nato ministers after it said Russian-made missiles crossed into the country in what would be the first time Nato territory has been struck during the Ukraine war.

Poland’s government said it has also summoned Moscow’s ambassador after a “Russian-made rocket” fell on the Polish village of Przewodów, near the Ukrainian border on Tuesday afternoon.

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If you have just joined us, here are all the latest developments:

• A “Russian-made missile” fell on the Polish village of Przewodów, near the Ukrainian border, killing two people on Tuesday afternoon, Poland’s foreign ministry said in a statement, in what would be the first time Nato territory has been struck during the Ukraine war.

• Poland’s president Andrzej Duda said that the explosion was a “one-off incident” and there are “no indications” that it is going to happen again. Duda said it was “most-likely” a Russian-made rocket but “we do not have any conclusive evidence at the moment as to who launched this missile … this is all still under investigation at the moment.”

• Poland’s government said it had summoned Moscow’s ambassador to Poland to provide an explanation. According to a statement released on Poland’s government’s website, a spokesperson said: “The minister of foreign affairs, Zbigniew Rau summoned the ambassador of the Russian federation to the ministry of foreign affairs and demanded immediate detailed explanations.”

• Nato ministers are preparing to gather on Wednesday at the request of the Polish government. The meeting is set to be convened under article 4 of the Nato treaty, which allows for all Nato allies to be brought together when the “territorial integrity, political independence or security” of any member has been threatened.

• A deliberate attack on a Nato member could in theory lead to the invocation of the alliance’s article 5, which states that an attack on one member of the military alliance is considered an attack against all. But the Nato treaty is highly unlikely to be triggered by an accidental attack.

• The White House said it could not confirm reports coming out of Poland and was working with the Polish government to gather more information. As day broke in Bali in Indonesia, where the G20 meeting is being held, US president Joe Biden talked by phone to Duda.

• Biden offered Duda “full support for and assistance with Poland’s investigation”. Biden also “reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to Nato” during a telephone call on Wednesday.

• Duda has also spoken to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy tweeted afterwards: “We exchanged available information and are clarifying all the facts … all of Europe and the world must be fully protected from terrorist Russia.”

• The Russian defence ministry in a statement denied its missiles crossed into Poland, calling the reports a “deliberate provocation”. “The statements of the Polish media and officials about the alleged fall of ‘Russian’ missiles in the area of Przewodów is a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation. No strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border were made by Russian rockets.”

• Some analysts said they believed photographs of missile debris at the scene showed a Ukrainian S-300 air defence system that would have been engaged in shooting down a Russian missile, but it was not possible to corroborate those reports.

• Russia launched waves of missile strikes across Ukraine on Wednesday as G20 leaders met in Bali. Ukraine’s authorities said it was another planned attack aimed at the country’s energy infrastructure facilities. In his Wednesday evening address, Zelenskiy said “a total of 90 missiles” hit Ukraine. Seven million homes were left without power. The deputy head of the presidential administration, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, wrote on Telegram that the energy situation across Ukraine was “critical” as a result.

• Earlier Zelenskiy, addressing the G20 by video link, called on the leaders to support Ukraine to end the war on its terms – the primary one being that Russian troops leave all of Ukraine, including the areas it occupied in 2014. Zelenskiy called for an international conference to “cement key element of the postwar security architecture” and prevent a recurrence of “Russian aggression”.

• The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that Zelenskiy’s statement that there will be no “Minsk-3” deal to end the fighting in Ukraine confirms that Kyiv is not interested in holding peace talks with Moscow.