An Attack on Belarus Will Mean an Aggression on Russia: Putin | News

On Friday, President Vladimir Putin warned Poland that an attack on Belarus will mean “aggression” against Russia. These statements occurred after Poland announced the deployment of military units near the Belarusian border.

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“As for Belarus, it is part of the State Union. An aggression against Belarus will mean an aggression against the Russian Federation. We will respond to it with all the means at our disposal,” Putin said during a meeting of the Russian Security Council.

Poland decided to reinforce the security of its eastern flank with two military units after the Wagner Group began monitoring the border between Belarus and Poland this week.

Putin also denounced plans by Poland and Lithuania to create a grouping of regular forces whose goal would be to occupy western Ukraine.

“The outlook is clear. If Polish units enter, for example in Lviv or other Ukrainian territories, they will stay. By the way, forever,” he warned.

Putin accused Poland of wanting to form “a kind of coalition and directly interfere in the conflict in Ukraine” in order to recapture what they consider to be “historical territories” in western Ukraine.

“It is well known that they also crave Belarusian territories,” he said, accusing the leaders of some Eastern European countries of turning “Russophobia” into an instrument of their domestic policy, which “strongly fan the flame of war.”

For this reason, Putin considered “a very dangerous game” to use Poles, Lithuanians and “everyone who is necessary” as “cannon fodder.”

“The authors of these plans should think about the consequences,” Putin warned and ordered Sergei Narishkin, head of the Foreign Espionage Service (SVR), to closely monitor developments in that area.

According to Narishkin, the reason for these plans by Poland is that in Warsaw they are coming to the conclusion that “the defeat of Ukraine is only a matter of time.”

In this regard, Putin insisted that Kiev’s Western backers are “clearly disappointed” with the Ukrainian counteroffensive, in which “tens of thousands” of enemy soldiers would have been killed.

He also noted that the arsenals of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are “largely depleted” while the rates of weapons production in the West do not allow it to rapidly replenish weapons and ammunition on the front lines.