Jacques Serais (in Bali), edited by Laura Laplaud
modified to
10:18 a.m., November 16, 2022
After the explosion of a missile between the Polish and Ukrainian border, the Elysée fears the escalation and calls for the greatest caution on the origin of the shot. For its part, Poland describes a missile “very probably of Russian manufacture”. At the request of Emmanuel Macron, the leaders of the largest met urgently.
Poland placed its military on heightened alert on Tuesday after being hit by what it described as a “most likely Russian-made” missile of uncertain origin, prompting its NATO allies to be cautious. . The Élysée said Wednesday morning feared the escalation and called for “the greatest caution” on the origin of this missile. The leaders of the greatest powers met urgently overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday at the request of Emmanuel Macron. A hastily organized meeting in a reception room of the hotel where Joe Biden is staying.
Russian or Ukrainian missile?
The American president had invited the leaders of the G7 and NATO members around the table at dawn: Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Justin Trudeau, the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, or the Prime Japanese Minister Fumio Kishida. At the end of this meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, Joe Biden spoke to the press. He explained that Washington and its allies would determine what exactly happened with this explosion.
If it is for Poland a Russian-made projectile, in the eyes of the White House, at this stage, “it is unlikely that the missile was launched from Russia”. It could be a Ukrainian anti-missile missile, according to some American sources.
“A case on which one cannot be mistaken”
On the French side, the time is for “the greatest caution”. “We will have our own estimate in due time”, we explain in the entourage of Emmanuel Macron. “You have to look at the sky maps and the satellite readings, it’s a matter on which you can’t go wrong as the risks of escalation are significant”, insists the Elysée.
Emmanuel Macron spoke with the Polish Prime Minister and reiterated to him that France stood ready to support the ongoing investigations. In the next few hours, all eyes will turn to Brussels where NATO member countries will meet.
At the end of the G20 summit which must be bought this Wednesday, a press release should result on which will be inscribed black and white that most members strongly condemn the war in Ukraine. The word “war” is important since since the beginning of the conflict, Moscow has spoken of “special operations”. China, though said to be close to the Kremlin, did not object to this language of condemnation. This G20 should therefore mark a little more the isolation of Russia on the international scene.