Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder said Tuesday that he does not have enough information to confirm that two Russian missiles have hit Polish territory, after local media reported the death of two Polish citizens in the border town of Przewodow, a few kilometers from Ukraine.
«We have no information right now to corroborate that there was a missile attack. We are investigating it,» the Pentagon spokesman said at a press conference, recalling that the United States has «a wide variety of means to verify the information» and will report the situation if it is confirmed.
Ryder has avoided answering reporters if this situation could lead to invoking NATO’s mutual defense clause. «I am not going to speculate on the potential situations. I’m just managing the facts, so let’s get the facts and then we’ll act from there,» the U.S. Defense Department spokesman stressed.
CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND WARSAW Later, the White House confirmed that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the events in Poland and that he will have a telephone conversation with the Polish head of state, Andrzej Duda.
Also, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has had a telephone conversation with his Polish counterpart, Jacek Siewiera, Sullivan’s spokeswoman Adrienne Watson confirmed.
«We have seen the reports from Poland and are working with the Polish government to gather more information,» Watson said in a statement in which she agreed with the Pentagon’s argument about the inability to confirm details of what happened.
Polish media have reported the death of two people in the town of Przewodow after the impact of two possible stray missiles. Police officers, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Polish Army have been dispatched to the scene.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has convened an extraordinary meeting of the National Security and Defense Committee of the Council of Ministers, according to government spokesman Piotr Muller on Twitter.
