Warsaw’s increasingly hostile attitude requires more attention to ensure the security of Russia and Belarus, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said after Poland decided to deploy its military troops on the Eastern border on Tuesday.
The presence of Wagner Group mercenaries in Belarus prompted the Polish Defence Ministry to redeploy some military troops to reinforce the country’s eastern border, Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced.
“Poland’s hostility toward Belarus and the Russian Federation certainly requires extra attention,” Peskov told reporters, as quoted by TASS news agency. This Polish move “raises concern” of Moscow, he added.
Mercenaries from Evgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group have started to train Belarusian special forces at a military range just a few kilometres from Poland, the Belarusian Defence Ministry said.
As shown in a video on Wednesday, Prigozhin told his troops that they would no longer participate in the war in Ukraine. Instead, he ordered them to train the Belarusian army and gather their strength for a “new journey to Africa.”
Perhaps Wagner will return to Ukraine “at some point when we are sure that we will not be forced to shame ourselves,” Prigozhin said, as quoted by Reuters. Prigozhin also praised his militants for “fighting honourably” in what Russia calls the special military operation in Ukraine.
Wagner has done a great deal for Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine, said Prigozhin, who was last seen leaving the Russian city of Rostov on 24 June. Still, he called what is now happening at the Ukrainian front “a disgrace that we do not need to get involved in.”
Meanwhile, Peskov confirmed that Moscow and Minsk were working on a security concept for their Union States, as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in April.
He said it would reflect rising tensions at the countries’ borders, as well as the sanctions and information war against both countries.
According to Peskov, the previous parameters of the security concept are no longer relevant because of the change in the external situation and new threats emerging. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the idea would strengthen the two countries’ mutual security guarantees.
The joint military exercises of Wagner and the Belarusian army close to the border with should last a week, according to Minsk.
Poland is prepared for different scenarios, according to the Defence Ministry.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)
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