NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says that the cause of the incident that happened on the territory of Poland is a war for which Russia is responsible, at the same time, what happened has no signs of a deliberate attack on NATO, as well as signs that Russia is planning military action against the allies.

He said this on Wednesday at NATO headquarters at the end of an emergency meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of ambassadors - permanent representatives of the alliance member countries, convened due to the fall of missiles on the territory of NATO member Poland, which resulted in the death of two people.

“We have no indication of this was a deliberate attack or that Russia is planning any offensive military actions against NATO Allies. But we've also agreed that Russia bears the ultimate responsibility. They are responsible for the war in Ukraine that has caused this situation. And if it hadn't been for the war, of course, we wouldn't have been in this situation with the two casualties,” the Secretary General said.

“Since we have no indications that Russia is planning offensive military actions against NATO Allies. I think this demonstrates the dangers connected to the ongoing war in Ukraine. But it hasn’t changed our fundamental assessment of the threat against that NATO Allies,” he repeated the assessment of the event, as well as explained the reaction of the allies.

Stoltenberg reiterated that Ukraine has the right to self-defense. “The reality is that if President Putin and Russia stops fighting, then we will have peace. But if President Zelensky and Ukrainians stop fighting then Ukraine will cease to exist as an independent sovereign nation. Most likely this war, whether that's on stage and at the negotiating table. At the same time, we know that the outcome of those negotiations is closely and fundamentally linked to the strength on the battlefield. So the best way we can ensure, maximize, the likelihood for a peaceful negotiated solution is to support Ukrainians on the battlefield, because that will maximize the probability for them achieving an acceptable negotiated solution on the negotiating table. So yes, we all want peace. We all want this war to end. That's the best way we can contribute to a peace which ensures that Ukraine remains a independent sovereign nation, is deployed the military support Ukraine, so there can be an acceptable negotiated solution at the end of this war,” the Secretary General summed up.

Answering the question about the possibility for NATO to extend the "air defense umbrella" also to the territory of Ukraine, Stoltenberg said: “NATO allies are not part to the conflict in Ukraine. NATO and NATO Allies provide support to Ukraine. We help Ukraine to uphold the rights for self defense. That is a right, which is enshrined in the UN Charter. And of course, Ukraine has the right to defend itself against Russia's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. And our main priority now, or one of the top priority now is to provide more air defense systems for Ukraine. Our air defense systems are set up to defend against attacks around the clock. But we have no indication this was the result of a deliberate attack and this incident does not have the characteristics of an attack. And that also explains why the reactions were as they were last night because this was not a deliberate attack and didn't have the characteristics of a deliberate attack against NATO territory,” he explained.