<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Washington and allies said Wednesday they will investigate a deadly strike in Poland before deciding next steps, with US President Joe Biden saying it was "unlikely" the missile was fired from Russia.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"We agreed to support Poland's investigation into the explosion," Biden told reporters after a hastily arranged gathering of allies on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali, Indonesia.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"We're going to make sure we figure out exactly what happened... and then we're going to collectively determine our next step," added Biden after talks with G7 and other European leaders.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Asked if the missile, which killed two people in a village near the Ukrainian border, had been fired from Russia, Biden said there was "preliminary information that contests that".</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"It's unlikely... that it was fired from Russia. But we'll see."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The explosion in Poland, a NATO member, immediately sparked concerns that the alliance might be drawn into Russia's nearly nine-month war against Western-backed Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">But the White House and allies have reacted cautiously, and Polish President Andrzej Duda also sought to calm tensions, saying there is no "unequivocal evidence" for where the missile came from and that he saw it as an "isolated" incident.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Nothing indicates to us that there will be more," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The foreign ministry earlier summoned Russia's ambassador to Warsaw to give "immediate detailed explanations" over the strike, and Poland is expected to request urgent consultations under Article 4 of the NATO Treaty on Wednesday.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Article 4 allows consultations to be called when any NATO member feels their "territorial integrity, political independence or security" are at risk.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>- 'Slap in the face' -</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky quickly blamed Russia, which has launched a wave of missile strikes across the country that have left millions of households without power, calling the strike a "slap in the face" for the G20.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The incident will further expose faultlines in the group, which has struggled to find common ground on Russia's invasion of its neighbour, coming together to condemn the war's effects, but still divided on apportioning blame.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The summit has shown that even Russia's allies have limited patience with a conflict that has inflated food and energy prices worldwide and raised the spectre of nuclear war.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In a draft communique, Russia was forced to agree that the "war in Ukraine" -- which Moscow refuses to call a war -- has "adversely impacted the global economy".</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It also agreed that "the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons" is "inadmissible", after months of President Vladimir Putin making such threats.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">But Russia's G20 allies China, India and South Africa have so far refrained from publicly criticising Putin's war, and the draft joint statement is replete with diplomatic fudges and linguistic gymnastics.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Putin shunned the gathering, instead sending his pugnacious Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who left the summit on Tuesday night, skipping the final day of talks.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The United States and its allies have used the summit to broaden the coalition against Russia's invasion and scotch Moscow's claims of a war of East versus West.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Host Indonesia, meanwhile, has walked a tightrope, keen to end its G20 presidency with the relative triumph of a joint statement agreed by the fractured grouping.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It has declined to criticise Russia, and invited Zelensky to address the summit with a speech Tuesday in which the Ukrainian leader urged his counterparts to end the war and "save thousands of lives".</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It was not immediately clear if the Poland strike would scupper the joint statement, which is due to be issued after leaders hold a final round of talks. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>