It’s 3.40pm when a Russian-made missile crashes into the Polish town of Przewodów – five miles from the border with Ukraine – killing two people – and the world holds its breath.
It is 3 am in Bali when the heads of state of the G20 countries are informed of the incident. Jens Plötner, foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, wakes up his boss in Hotel Melia Bali. Hectic breaks out, information is collected. Four hours later, Scholz calls Polish President Andrzej Duda.
At 5:20 a.m., U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson announced that the U.S. government was investigating the blasts. Joe Biden has also probably had a short night: shortly after 6 a.m. he calls NATO Secretary Stoltenberg, after which the G20 summit goes into crisis mode.
It is 08:40 in Bali when the crisis meeting takes place: US President Joe Biden (79) meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the presidents of Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, Spain, the Netherlands and the EU leaders on a large conference table.
The all-clear is still a long time coming
The atmosphere is tense in the conference room of a hotel in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. Emmanuel Macron (44) talks to Scholz, Biden is attentive and Justin Trudeau (50) looks concerned at his colleagues – German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit (50) captured the critical moment behind closed doors.
It is just past 3 a.m. in Europe when Biden presents his administration’s results at the meeting: It was most likely Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles that hit Poland — not, as first feared, Russian missiles that hit the area. a NATO member state. But certainty awaits.
It was not until Wednesday afternoon that Polish President Andrzej Duda gave the signal: the missile strike was not a targeted attack on a NATO country. There is no evidence that Russia fired the missile. He also suspects that a Ukrainian anti-missile was behind the impact.
Poland, the G7 countries and NATO only provide specific information in the course of the morning. In joint statements they express their condolences to Poland, (almost) unconditional support to Ukraine and a little security to the world.
“It’s Not Ukraine’s Fault”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (63) appears before the media in the afternoon and reports how NATO member states think about the incident in Poland. “There is no evidence that it was a deliberate attack or that Russia is planning an attack on NATO countries.”
As a defensive alliance, you don’t get involved in the conflict. A “Third World War” – as was feared – will not materialize for the time being. Stoltenberg emphasizes: “Let me be clear: this is not Ukraine’s fault – it is Russia’s.”
He reaffirms NATO’s motivation to ensure peace. “We all want peace. We all want this war to end.” But since the outcome of the peace talks is directly related to the results on the battlefield, (military) support is the best way to achieve that peace. (chs)