It is one step short of a full military mobilisation
Poland is considering invoking Nato's Article 4 after
missiles killed two people close to its border with Ukraine.
The attack has been described as a "very significant escalation" of the war by Volodymr Zelensky, and marks the first time since the invasion of Ukraine that weapons came down on a Nato member.
According to Reuters reports, Jens Stoltenberg, Nato's alliance's secretary-general, will chair an emergency meeting of the 30 member states in Brussels today (16/11).
It is believed that this meeting is at the request of Poland on the basis of Article 4.
The report cited two European diplomats, one of whom said the alliance would act cautiously and needed time to verify exactly what had happened.
It's not clear what form this stage will take or how long it might last.
Any country can invoke Article 4 and Nato's own website says that all decisions are made by consensus.
Article 4 does not always have to lead to Nato entering a conflict, but it is only one step short of a full military mobilisation.
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Since Nato was created in 1949, Article 4 has been invoked seven times, including once this year when countries bordering Russia requested consultations at the start of the war.
Before that, Turkey made the same request following terror attacks to inform allies of the measures it was taking, while Poland also invoked it in 2o14 as tensions increased in Ukraine as a result of Russia's aggressive actions during the Crimean crisis.
The last time Article 5 was invoked was after 9/11, which resulted in a full-scale military escalation in Iraq.
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