NATO warned not to 'jump to conclusions' over Poland attack amid WW3 risk
Former British Army chief Lord Dannatt warned NATO countries to take their time investigating the missile attack on the Polish village of Przewodow.
Poland: NATO warned not to 'jump to conclusions' by Dannatt
The retired senior British army officer explained that there was a difference between Russia deliberately attacking Poland and a mistake. Lord Dannatt claimed that if it was a deliberate attack it could trigger Article 5, leading all NATO members to respond militarily in support of Poland. He explained that the missile could have been from a Ukrainian anti-aircraft system, or could be a rogue Russian missile.
Lord Dannatt told GB News: "Well, yes you're right, it was always possible that would happen.
"But I think one has to look at, and also ask the question, why might something like this happen?
"And there is a very big difference between Russia deliberately attacking targets in Poland and you could construct a rationale as to why they might do that.
"Most of the Western weapons that have come into Ukraine have come through Poland, so Russia could decide that they wanted to interrupt that supply line.
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Lord Dannatt added: "And make a deliberate attack, that would be a serious measure.
"That would be an attack on Poland, that would be under Article 5 and an attack on all member states of NATO.
"Or alternatively you've got the error theory, that just as we've seen yesterday that it was possibly a Russian missile that went rogue.
"Possibly a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile that went rogue, so there are options by where there could be a deliberate escalation by Russians or there are options whereby it could be a mistake.
"But in any event, Western leaders need to be very cautious, and very careful not to jump to conclusions and risk escalating the war by miscalculation."
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After the attack in the Polish village of Przewodow which killed two citizens, NATO members have been investigating where the missile came from.
NATO's Article 5 specifies that an attack on one NATO country would be an attack on all members, and would triggering it would have the potential of leading most of Europe into a dangerous escalation.
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Russia's ministry of defence has already given a statement claiming the missile was not from Russian military forces.
They said in a statement: "No strikes were made against targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border by Russian weapons.
"The fragments published in hot pursuit by the Polish media from the scene in the village of Przewoduv have nothing to do with Russian weapons."