By Mike Brest, Defense Reporter |
The Pentagon and National Security Council are in agreement with NATO and Polish authorities, who now believe the explosion that killed two people near its border with Ukraine came from a Ukrainian air defense missile.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley affirmed the United States’s view during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon following the seventh meeting of the Defense Contact Group, which includes foreign defense leaders who come together monthly to discuss the war, while National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson released a statement reiterating that stance. While they back Polish authorities’ initial findings, which are in line with Russia’s denials, they still put the ultimate blame for the errant explosion on the Kremlin for launching the missiles that put Ukraine in the position to need its air defense systems.
“We’re still gathering information, but we have seen nothing that contradicts President [Andrzej] Duda’s preliminary assessment that this explosion was most likely the result of a Ukrainian air defense missile that unfortunately ended in Poland,” Austin said. “Whatever the final conclusions may be, the world knows that Russia bears ultimate responsibility for the incident, which launched another barrage of missiles against Ukraine specifically intended to target Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.”
The U.S. is “assisting” the investigation and has “some experts on the ground helping,” he explained, though he declined to say he was confident that this was not a Russian missile and instead said they’re “going to let the investigation play out” when asked.
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