France told Russia on Monday (November 15) that NATO will prepare to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty, near where NATO said Moscow has been gathering troops, while Western leaders are trying to resolve the immigration crisis on the eastern border of the EU.
The EU agreed to strengthen sanctions against Belarus because thousands of immigrants are stranded in the frozen forest bordering the EU. Belarus, Russia’s close ally, said the assertion that it contributed to the crisis was “ridiculous.”
As part of a series of dialogues between Western leaders and Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, the French leader talked about his strong concerns about the situation on the Ukrainian border during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The president reaffirmed our willingness to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Macron’s adviser told reporters of the dialogue initiated by Macron.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier dismissed the US State Department’s statement that the Belarusian border crisis was designed to divert attention from Russia’s increased military activities near Ukraine as “wrong”.
The European Union is seeking to stop what it says is Belarus’ policy of pushing migrants towards it, in retaliation for earlier sanctions that suppressed last year’s protests against veteran leader Alexander Lukashenko’s re-election campaign.
Both Belarus and Russia have repeatedly denied any role.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier on Monday that NATO does not want to speculate on Russia’s intentions with Ukraine, adding: “We have seen an unusual concentration of troops, and we know that Russia has been willing to use these types of military capabilities before. . Take positive action against Ukraine.”
US concern
The US Department of Defense stated that it continues to see Russia concentrating its forces and conducting unusual military activities near the border with Ukraine. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the buildup is worrying, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with the Ukrainian Defense Secretary on Thursday.
In 2014, Russia-backed separatists took control of the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine in an ongoing conflict. Earlier in the same year, after the former Soviet Republic sought a closer relationship with the European Union, Moscow also annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
Moscow claims the Black Sea waters around Crimea, although most countries believe that the peninsula still belongs to Ukraine.
While reading the phone call with Macron in the Kremlin, Putin said that the large-scale military exercises conducted by the United States and its allies in Houhai were a kind of “provocation.”
The Kremlin said: “This has increased the tension between Russia and NATO.”
The two leaders also discussed the immigration crisis. Macron’s advisers said they had reached an agreement on the need for a downgrade, and the Kremlin reiterated Russia’s insistence that the European Union discuss directly with Minsk.
Migrants-mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan-began to appear on the land border between Belarus and the European Union this year, trying to enter member states Lithuania, Latvia and Poland via routes that have never been used before.
The European Union’s top diplomat Jose Porrell said that the EU’s foreign ministers have agreed to the fifth set of sanctions and will be finalized in the next few days. He said that their targets are airlines, travel agencies and individuals involved in “illegal immigration.”
Latvia said on Monday that it has deployed 3,000 soldiers for previously unannounced military exercises near the border. It, Lithuania, and Poland form the east wing of the European Union and NATO, while Ukraine is not a member of these two Western blocs.
Polish police said on Twitter that hundreds of migrants, some of them throwing stones, tried again on Monday to cross the border near the Polish village of Starzyna, but were forced to return.
A spokesman for the German government said that German Chancellor Merkel and Lukashenko discussed humanitarian assistance to refugees and migrants over the phone.
Since the Belarusian presidential election triggered mass protests by demonstrators last year, the first contact between the President of Belarus and Western leaders accused Lukashenko of election fraud. He denied the accusation.
The spokesperson said that Merkel and Lukashenko agreed to continue the exchange, but did not indicate a breakthrough. In recent days, Merkel spoke with Putin twice.
A sort ofairline
A Reuters survey showed that in recent months, Middle East travel agencies have cooperated with Belarusian operators to provide tourist visas to thousands of people.
The European Commission said it is investigating whether other airlines should face sanctions after the European Union banned Belavia’s state-owned airline Belavia from entering the skies and airports of Belarus. Ireland stated that the aircraft lease contract between the European Union and Belavia will also be terminated.
Lukashenko said that Belarus tried to persuade immigrants to return home, but they did not want to return. He said that Minsk will retaliate against any new EU sanctions.
For months, the EU has been strengthening sanctions against Belarus. The restrictions that have been implemented include the blacklisting of Lukashenko, his son and 165 other Belarusian officials, and restrictions on the trade of potash, which is an important export product.
In Washington, the White House stated that it is in close contact with the EU allies to hold the Belarusian government accountable.
The Kremlin, which has sent strategic bombers to patrol the skies of Belarus, said that Putin had a conversation with Lukashenko on Sunday and that although Minsk threatened to cut off transport to Europe through the Yamal pipeline, Moscow has no plans to divert natural gas from Belarus. go out.
At least eight people died from the cold and exhaustion along the 200 km long land border between Poland and Belarus. The sparsely populated lakes, swamps and forests have become more hostile to people trying to warm up around the campfire on the cold November night.
Borel of the European Union urged Warsaw to allow humanitarian assistance at the border, where Poland has deployed about 20,000 police, border guards and soldiers.
