Vseviov: Poland missile incident will not harm Ukraine relations with West
Tuesday's missile impact in Poland, which killed two, will not negatively impact western attitudes towards Ukraine, even if it is indeed the case that the missile had been launched by Ukrainian forces, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary General Jonatan Vseviov says.
Meanwhile, Estonia's Ambassador to Ukraine, Kaimo Kuusk, said the ongoing investigation should ascertain exactly what happened in the incident.
Both President of Poland Andrzej Duda and Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the missile strike had not been the result of deliberate action and, based on early assessments, was likely an air defense missile Ukrainian forces had used to intercept an incoming Russian attack.
US President Joe Biden had stated Tuesday evening that it was unlikely the missile had been fired from inside Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he has no doubt that Ukraine bore no culpability in the incident, adding that he has received confirmation from his senior commanders that the missile was not of Ukrainian forces' origin.
ERR journalists Kirke Ert and Sten Teppan, appearing on Vikerraadio's "Vikerhommik" show Thursday morning, quizzed Secretary General Vseviov on why Zelenskyy is taking a different position than the leaders from NATO and allied nations.
Vseviov said: "In the initial hours after this event took place, plenty of noise was apparent in the public space. It is quite normal for something like that to happen in the first few hours. Now sufficient time has elapsed, an understanding has begun to develop among the allies about what transpired."
"It is indeed the case that the Ukrainians want to take an active part in this investigation now, and get a full conviction as to what this was all about," Vseviov added.
"I don't think there was any malice here, neither on the part of the allies, nor on the part of the Ukrainians. I don't think there was any malice intended during these initial reports either," he continued.
"I don't think western attitudes towards Ukraine will be affected by this incident. If anything, it will help to speed up those processes that we consider necessary to win the war."
Ambassador Kuusk responded to the same question in an appearance on ETV morning show "Terevisioon", albeit vaguely.
Kuusk said: "At the end of the day, this whole episode started when Russia starting its large-scale missile attacks on Ukraine."
"Ukraine tried to take down those cruise missiles. What exactly happened should be investigated going forward, because conclusions so far have initially been based on emotion, with logic only coming into play later. In fact, we should wait for the Poles. When they invite the Ukrainians and the Americans to take part in a joint investigation to establish what happened there and what, unfortunately, also resulted in victims," he went on.
"Different data sets are being compared. All intelligence information that planes, various sensors and tech can collect is being compared, and traces of the impact an explosion at the site, along with all fragments that have been found, are under investigation. I am convinced that if investigation procedures are carried out, these results will also be made public," Kuusk went on.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov
Source: Vikerhommik, Terevisioon