Putin: aggression against Belarus would amount to aggression against Russia

July 21, BPN. Vladimir Putin has told the Security Council that aggression against Belarus would amount to aggression against Russia, emphasizing that both countries are part of the so-called Union State.

The Russian president accused Poland of planning to seize Belarusian and Ukrainian territories, a baseless claim often promoted by the Russian media.

Moscow, he said, would use all available means to stop any aggression.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Putin accused Warsaw of aggressive activities, according to RIA Novosti. The Kremlin was alarmed by the transfer of Polish military personnel to the border with Belarus, Dmitry Peskov said.

Warsaw has repeatedly voiced concern about potential threats from Russia’s ally. The presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland sent a letter to NATO urging it to respond, according to reports on July 7.

One day later, Poland’s defense minister announced the deployment of more than 1,000 soldiers and 200 vehicles to the country’s east.

Last week, senior Russian MP Andrey Kartapolov suggested that Moscow was sending the Wagner Group, a private military contractor, to Belarus in preparation for an offensive on the Suwalki Gap, a land link between Russia’s Kaliningrad and Belarus in the EU’s east.

The Wagner Group announced its relocation to Belarus in early July after a feud with the Russian defense ministry and a failed mutiny.

Officials in Minsk say its goal is to train the country’s soldiers.

Alaksandar Łukašenka and Vladimir Putin will meet in Russia on July 23, the Łukašenka’s media reports.