Putin warns Poland against harboring territorial ambitions in Belarus
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Poland of harboring territorial ambitions concerning Belarus, warning Warsaw that Moscow would defend the Belarusian territory in case of a Polish incursion.
Addressing the country's security council on Friday, Putin said Russia would protect the Belarusian soil "with all the means at our disposal" should it be coveted by Poland.
Belarus formed a "Union State" with the Russian Federation, he said, adding that Russia would treat any act of aggression against Belarus as one targeting its own territory.
The comments came after Poland's security committee announced that the country was repositioning some military units towards its eastern border near Belarus after the arrival of members of Russia's Wagner military group in the ex-Soviet republic to train Belarusian forces.
Still warning Poland against targeting the Belarusian territory, Putin said part of the Polish territory was a gift from Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin to the country and that Russia might be forced to remind Poles about it.
"Have our friends in Warsaw forgotten about this?" Putin said, and cautioned, "We will remind you."
During the Friday meeting, Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), also said that Warsaw was considering capturing western territories of Ukraine -- where Russia has been conducting a military operation since last February -- by deploying its own troops to the region as part of a Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian security initiative, Russia Today reported.
According to Naryshkin, Polish officials were gradually coming to the realization that "the issue of Ukraine’s defeat is only a matter of time," regardless of the amount of Western military assistance that has been sent to Kiev.
Commenting on the SVR report, Putin suggested that the true purpose of such a coalition would only be to occupy Ukrainian territories, but Moscow would not allow any party to treat the Belarusian territory in a similar fashion.
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