Poland warns Ukraine war is entering ‘decisive phase'

Putin ramps up threats against the West after missile launch

- CHRIS STEVENSON

The war in Ukraine is entering a “decisive phase”, with Vladimir Putin’s launch of a new ballistic missile showing that the threat of global conflict is “serious and real”, Poland’s prime minister has said. Donald Tusk’s warning came as Nato and Ukrainian officials convened emergency talks after the hypersonic ballistic missile strike against Dnipro.

Putin said its launch was in response to Ukraine using British and American long-range missiles on targets in Russia – and issued a stark threat that Moscow “had the right” to strike any Western nation that provided Kyiv with such weapons. And he vowed to continue using the new missile “in combat conditions” – a threat to both Ukraine and the West.

Mr Tusk made clear the danger in Ukraine, which shares a border with Poland: “The war in the east is entering a decisive phase; we feel that the unknown is approaching. The conflict is taking on dramatic proportions. The last few dozen hours have shown that the threat is serious and real when it comes to global conflict.”

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said the world needs to mount a “serious response” to Putin’s firing of the missile, to show that there are “real consequences”. He added that his defence ministry was already working with allies and partners to develop air defences to protect against the “new risks” his country is facing.