Moscow, November 19 2021 Russian President’s Press Secretary Peskov said on the 19th that resolving the refugee crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland requires direct contact between Belarus and the European Union.
Russian media quoted Peskov as saying that solving the border refugee crisis requires a process, and a solution has not yet been found, but exchanges between Russian President Putin and Belarusian President Lukashenka alone are not enough. It is very important to continue direct contact between Lukashenka and EU representatives.
Peskov said that Putin and Lukashenka talked on the phone again on the same day to discuss the refugee issue on the borders of EU countries such as Belarus and Poland. Both sides expressed serious concern about the tough acts of Polish border guards such as violence against refugees.
According to the information released on the Kremlin website, Lukashenka described in a call with Putin on the measures taken by Belarus to avoid the escalation of the crisis and provide humanitarian assistance to refugees, as well as the recent telephone conversation between Lukashenka and Prime Minister Merkel of the German caretaker government. Putin and Lukashenka agreed that cooperation between Belarus and the EU is crucial to resolving the crisis.
Recently, thousands of refugees, most of whom are from the Middle East, tried to enter EU countries such as Poland and Lithuania from Belarus, and eventually went to Western Europe. Poland and other countries have strengthened border control and strictly prevented illegal entry, resulting in a large number of immigrants staying at the border. Poland and other countries accused Belarus of plotting the crisis in retaliation for the European Union’s previous sanctions against Belarus. Belarus said that sanctions prevented Belarus from controlling the influx of immigrants.
