Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Poland that it will regard an attack on Belarus as an attack on Russia itself. Putin said during a meeting of the Russian Security Council that “Russia will respond to the aggression against Belarus with all available means.”
At the same meeting, Putin claimed that Poland intended to “directly intervene” and occupy part of Ukraine. According to BBC Russia, Putin said that Poland’s leaders most likely hope to “form some kind of alliance under the umbrella of NATO and intervene directly in the conflict in Ukraine, just to tear off a thick piece for themselves, to win back their historical territory, as they believe, – present-day western Ukraine”.
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The head of a Russian intelligence service said at the same meeting that he had information that Poland also wanted to seize regions of western Ukraine. There would be a plan for that, but this accusation was also not supported by evidence.
Putin indicated to Poland that a large part of Poland’s territory was a gift from Russian dictator Joseph Stalin: “The western regions of present-day Poland are a gift from Stalin to the Poles, have our friends in Warsaw forgotten that? We remind you.” According to the BBC, Putin has not confirmed his allegations against Poland.
Russian news agency TASS One step further, stating that Putin mentioned the Polish-Lithuanian army wanting to occupy parts of Ukraine. Tass quoted the Russian president as saying that “plans may be in the works to use a planned joint Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian military unit as an occupation force in the regions of western Ukraine, and any Polish forces entering Lviv will certainly remain there.”
I can’t help but comment on what was just said [door de directeur van de Russische buitenlandse inlichtingendienst (SVR), Sergej Narysjkin] And to press reports that appeared about plans to create the so-called Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian unit. We’re not talking about a gang of mercenaries here – there really are plenty of them [in Oekraïne]which will be destroyed – but rather a regular, well-equipped and well-equipped military formation that will be used in operations on the territory of Ukraine, ”Putin said.
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‘particularly [wordt dit gedaan] Ostensibly to ensure the security of modern Western Ukraine, but in fact – if you call a spade – for the subsequent occupation of these lands. After all, the prospect for the future is clear: if Polish units invade, say, Lviv or other regions of Ukraine, they will stay there. And they will stay there forever.
NATO member Poland has sent soldiers and police to the 418-kilometer Polish-Belarusian border as more and more Wagner mercenaries appear in the neighboring country to train the Belarusian army.
Belarus announced yesterday that Wagner has begun training Belarusian soldiers a few kilometers from the border with Poland. Warsaw regards joint exercises as a provocation.