Politics

G20 interrupted to see what happened in Poland, study ‘further steps’

Nusa Dua, Indonesia, Nov 16 (EFE).- G7 and NATO leaders who participated at the G20 summit in Bali held an emergency meeting Wednesday and unanimously agreed to support Poland’s investigation into a missile attack before taking “further steps.”

As soon as the day began, they met behind closed doors at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Bali to discuss the explosion of a missile in Poland, which left two dead, and Russian attacks in recent hours against various areas of Ukraine, including the capital.

They then issued a joint statement in which caution prevailed over the explosion, which Poland attributes to a “Russian-made missile,” while Russia denies having carried out attacks on the border between Ukraine and Poland, calling it a deliberate provocation.”

In the joint statement, the leaders said they offer “full help and assistance” to Poland with its investigation.

“We have agreed to remain in close contact to determine the appropriate next steps to take as the investigation proceeds,” reads the joint statement signed by the leaders of Canada, the European institutions, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States.

The leaders also reaffirmed their “strong support” for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in the face of “ongoing Russian aggression,” as well as their “continued readiness to hold Russia accountable” for its attacks, at a time the G20 “come together to deal with the broad impact of war.”

The leaders also conveyed their condolences to the families of the victims of the latest explosions in Ukraine and Poland in a statement that was passed unanimously, US President Joe Biden told the press after the meeting.

Biden revealed some of the hypotheses Washington had about the incident in Poland.

Asked by the press if the missile was fired by Russia, Biden said “there is a lot of information that contradicts that. I don’t want to say until we fully investigate, but it is unlikely due to the trajectory that it was fired from Russia.”

“At a time when the world has come together at the G20 summit to urge de-escalation, Russia continues to choose the escalation (of the war) in Ukraine,” Biden said.

The meeting was also attended by German chancellor, Olaf Scholz; the Prime Ministers of Canada, the UK, Italy and Japan, Justin Trudeau, Rishi Sunak, Giorgia Meloni and Kishida Fumio, respectively; and French President Emmanuel Macron; member countries of the G7.

Also participating are the leaders of Spain and the Netherlands, Pedro Sanchez and Mark Rutte, NATO countries also present at the G20 summit as forum guests, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President Charles Michel, informed the White House.

Michel posted a photo of the meeting on Twitter and called the Russian attacks in Ukraine “cowardly.”

In the consultations on the incident in Poland, the next step is an emergency NATO meeting to be held Wednesday in Brussels at the request of the Polish government.

Poland is considering invoking NATO Article 4, according to which the allies “shall consult when, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”

G7 and NATO leaders in Bali resumed the planned agenda with some delay.

The impact events in Poland will have on the G20 negotiations is yet to be seen, since there was hope that the summit would close with a joint declaration in which a majority of the members would condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine. EFE

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