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A Pentagon official reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to its NATO allies while stressing that reports of Russian missiles hitting Poland are still being examined.
Reports began to emerge on Tuesday afternoon that Russian missiles had crossed over into Poland, killing two people. It is unknown at this time whether or not this was an intentional strike or an accidental one. The incident has raised alarms internationally and led many to ask whether or not countries like the U.S., as NATO allies to Poland, will respond.
Speaking at a live-streamed press conference, Patrick S. Ryder, press secretary for the Department of Defense (DOD), stressed that the reports from Poland are too preliminary for the U.S. to make definitive statements on, but did reaffirm past comments from President Joe Biden about defending "every inch" of the country's NATO allies.
"As I mentioned, we're looking into these reports, don't have any information to corroborate at this time, so I don't want to speculate or get into hypotheticals," Ryder began. "When it comes to our security commitments and Article 5 [of NATO], we've been crystal clear that we will defend every inch of NATO territory."
NATO is a multi-government defense alliance started in the aftermath of World War II that currently consists of 30 member nations, including the U.S., Canada, and 28 European nations. Under Article 5 of NATO, members agree to provide military defense to other members, like Poland, should they come under attack from a non-member state.
Newsweek reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
Reports of missile strikes first appeared in local Polish media sources, which claimed that an explosion in the town of Przewodów in the province of Lublin killed two. Lublin is located in Eastern Poland along the country's border with Ukraine.
In a statement to Newsweek, the Polish National Defense Ministry said that the country is working on "verifying and checking the information regarding the incident in Przewodów in the Lubelskie Voivodeship on the border with Ukraine."
A NATO spokesperson also confirmed to Newsweek that the organization is monitoring the situation closely. As of late Tuesday afternoon, Poland has not moved to invoke Article 5 of NATO, which it would need to do in order to receive aid from allies.
In the wake of the reported strikes, users on social media began to express alarm at the potential ramifications of NATO getting involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Alongside "Article 5," variations on the phrase "World War III" began to trend on Twitter.
Update: 11/15/22 4:18 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more