Polish President Andrzej Duda held a telephone conversation with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden on Tuesday evening and later also contacted Ukrainian head of state Volodimir Zelenski.
Both the White House and the head of the International Policy Office of the Polish Presidency, Jakub Kumoch, confirmed the contacts between the two leaders.
After hanging up the phone with Biden, Duda spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, who on Tuesday denounced what had happened and accused the Russian Armed Forces of the impact of missiles on Polish territory.
Polish media have reported the death of two people in the town of Przewodow after the impact of two possible stray missiles. Officers of the Police, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Polish Army have been dispatched to the scene of the incident.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki convened an extraordinary meeting of the National Security and Defense Committee of the Council of Ministers where the civilian deaths were confirmed, although Russia was not blamed.
The Polish authorities also confirmed that «some military units and other uniformed services» have been ordered to be prepared, and acknowledged that they are considering whether the conditions for initiating the Article 4 procedure of the NATO Pact are met.
This article states that «the parties shall consult when, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened».
Once that article is invoked, the issue is discussed by the allies and may trigger some kind of joint decision or action by the Alliance.
Since its creation, it has been invoked seven times, most recently in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February 24. At that time, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia requested consultations.
