Bloomberg News
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Poland that he would treat any “aggression” toward ally Belarus as an attack on his own country, following Warsaw’s decision to send troops to reinforce its eastern border in response to the presence of Wagner mercenary forces in its neighbor.
“Aggression against Belarus will mean aggression against the Russian Federation,” Putin said in televised comments during a Security Council Meeting Friday. “We will respond to this with all the means at our disposal,” he said, referencing a long-established union state between Belarus and Russia.
The threats, which could exacerbate tensions between Russia and Europe, aren’t the first the Kremlin has leveled against Poland, which is one of Kyiv’s biggest supporters in the war with Russia. Poland is a member of NATO and has shown no intention to take unilateral, unprovoked military action.
Warsaw has said it plans to increase its military presence close to the border with Belarus as well as to build new defenses there. Polish officials have previously warned of a “new phase of hybrid warfare” after a deal to allow Wagner mercenary fighters into Belarus as well as citing its neighbor’s assistance for migrants crossing the border as part of Russia’s plan to attack Europe.
The head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, claimed at the meeting that Moscow has obtained information that Poland is planning to take control of western Ukrainian regions under a mutual defense pact with Ukraine and Lithuania, without providing any evidence for the claims. Russia has repeatedly made similar unsubstantiated statements that Poland seeks to seize part of Ukraine.
Belarus said Thursday that its troops will train together with members of the private Russian military company Wagner near the Polish border. Wagner mercenaries have moved to Belarus under a deal ending the failed mutiny by the group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko will visit Russia and meet with Putin on Sunday, the Kremlin said Friday.
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