Ukraine has sought to strengthen its frontier with Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarus. This comes in the event it becomes the next target of the “artificially produced migrant problem that is hurting Poland and Lithuania.”
This is getting messy
“Last Sunday, the heads of Ukraine’s military and intelligence organizations met in the town of Lutsk, not too far from the Belarusian frontier. Then, they decided to invite the envoys of Poland, as well as Lithuania, to take part.”
“Now, we need a collaborative approach to the incident in Belarus,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in remarks to Ukrinform in Brussels on Monday.
“We have concentrated on the purposely induced migrant issue, but we cannot predict what will occur tomorrow. Our three nations must cope with the refugee problem today, keeping in mind it is not the end of the narrative,” Kuleba added.
“So far, we do not see a flood of immigrants into our nation,” he said. The official then added this “demonstrates once again the migration crisis is synthetic.”
“It is intentionally aimed against Poland, as well as Lithuania, to provoke you, exert pressure on you, and sow confusion in your communities around the ways of solving this emergency.”
Despite the fact Ukraine, unlike Poland as well as Lithuania, would be neither a part of the European Union nor NATO, migrants might transit through it and on to Slovakia. They could then move on to the Czech Republic, Germany, as well as other Western countries.
#Ukraine prepares to protect border from migrants
8,500 military and police officers will be sent to the border with #Belarus. In addition, aviation of the Interior Ministry will be on duty there, including 15 helicopters. pic.twitter.com/JNrKLGirQv
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) November 11, 2021
“I really want Belarusian representatives to be more cordial to Ukraine so we can see the northeastern flank as a safe location, but sadly, that is not the case,” Kuleba said at a combined news conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Later he added, “the Ukrainian government does everything possible, taking all initiatives, and collaborating with the nearest partners to boost our defenses on the northern flank, to ensure our nation is protected from terrorism.”
It’s a blame game
For Ukraine, being obliged to relocate people to monitor the Belarusian border is an issue. It also claims Russian troops are threatening its eastern flank, which is already home to Russian-backed rebel regions inhabited largely by ethnic Russians.
#Migrants started throwing tents at #Polish security forces pic.twitter.com/7dCBmH0JNx
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) November 16, 2021
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed concern about the “unusual density of troops.” However, Russia stated it has no intention of intervening militarily “unless we’re triggered by Ukraine, or by someone else.”
“This is not Ukrainian land,” says the narrator. The region where Russia’s forces are stationed is Russian property, according to Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations.
“There are many dangers emanating from Ukraine,” Polyanskiy told Newsweek, also noting, “don’t forget about American vessels in the Black Sea which act in a very provocative manner.”
