ALSO SEE: Ukraine Reacts as Initial Findings Suggest It
Fired the Missile That Hit Poland

Two people were killed when a Russian-made missile struck a grain drying farm, sparking tensions across Europe.

The deadly Russian-made missile that struck a farm on the Polish side of the Ukrainian border Tuesday was “likely” accidentally launched by Ukraine’s missile defense system, the head of NATO said on the back of emergency talks in Brussels on Wednesday.

But he said it is still Russia’s fault.

“This is not Ukraine’s fault,” Jens Stoltenberg, head of NATO, told reporters several times on Wednesday from NATO headquarters in Brussels. “Russia bears ultimately responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda echoed that, saying: “Ukraine’s defense was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory.”

“There is nothing, absolutely nothing to suggest that it was an intentional attack on Poland,” he said.

The accident, which killed two people and is still under investigation in Poland, set off a chain reaction among European NATO countries close to the battlefield in Ukraine, with the alliance putting many bases across the region on alert in case leaders decided to trigger Article V, which allows for military protection to any alliance member, which Poland is.

The direct hit in Europe also sparked a wave of diplomatic responses, with a slew of warnings to Russia, even before the investigation was complete.

Poland summoned the Russian ambassador, though the meeting lasted just four minutes, according to the Polish government.

“He [Sergei Andreyev] was received, but without any exchange of courtesy, without shaking hands, by Minister Zbigniew Rau and the delegation accompanying him,” Lukasz Jasina, a spokesman for Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters. “Our diplomatic note was read to the ambassador, which is similar to the communique we published. The ambassador accepted the position and left.”

Stoltenberg reiterated that while there was “no indication” that Russia was planning any attack on NATO allies, the inherent danger of war meant that NATO countries would beef up their defense strategies close to Ukraine, which includes providing more air defense to Ukraine to avoid additional accidents. Germany immediately offered to send its own military planes to patrol the Polish borders, if Poland requests such assistance.

NATO once again backed away from Ukraine’s request to close air space over the country.

“Only Russia is responsible for the war in Ukraine and massive missile strikes. Only Russia is behind the rapidly growing risks for the border countries,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted as NATO representatives met behind closed doors. “No need to look for excuses and postpone key decisions. Time for Europe to ‘close the sky over Ukraine’.”

The NATO chief said he did not know where the missile that the Ukraine defense system tried to intercept struck, but underscored that Tuesday was one of Russia’s most aggressive days in the war as they focused on knocking out key infrastructure systems in Ukraine.

Russia was quick to seize on NATO’s announcement Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov lashed out at Western leaders for what he called a “hysterical” and “frenzied” reaction to the missile incident. Meanwhile, he lauded U.S. President Joe Biden for what he described as a “measured response.”

Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, went so far as to demand that Poland apologize to Russia.

“Don’t the Polish agencies that allowed themselves anti-Russian attacks and called Ambassador Andreyev at midnight want to apologize?” she wrote on Telegram.