Russia Calls Poland "Hostile", Warns Of Intervention In Belarus In Event Of Coup

Russia Calls Poland "Hostile", Warns Of Intervention In Belarus In Event Of Coup

DONALD STANDEFORD

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called Poland “hostile” and addressed claims by Russian and Belarusian officials that Poland is planning a coup in Belarus, and says that if this happens, Russia will step in and intervene.

The claim that Poland plans to initiate a coup in Belarus originated from a Polish media outlet Polsat, which cited the former Polish commander of the Land Forces General Waldemar Skrzypczak as saying "Let's prepare for an uprising in Belarus because it will happen. The point is that we do not oversleep this moment”.

The Polish news agency further cited the General as saying that, "the Belarusian people will support them and enthusiastically go against Lukashenko".

Russian state-run news agency TASS cited Peskov as saying, “The Polish leadership is now literally gripped by a Russophobic hysteria and we see that this country, which is hostile to us, openly talks about its intention to interfere, including by means of force, in the internal affairs of a neighboring country".

Peskov went on to say that Belarus is Russia’s “partner, ally and a brotherly country,” and added, “Of course, the Russian Federation has commitments about ensuring Belarus’s security, which is what we will do in the face of this evident threat”. 

He also said that "Poland is a country that’s hostile to us. That's how far I would go. I wouldn’t call it [simply] unfriendly”.