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Russia may become mediator in resolving crisis on Belarusian-EU border, Kremlin says

The migrant crisis in the region sharply aggravated on November 8

MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. Russia can help to resolve the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-EU border as a mediator in negotiations, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.

"In this case - exclusively as a negotiating mediator which is partially happening," the spokesman said in response to a question as to how Russia could help settle the migration crisis.

He reiterated that Putin has held phone conversations on this subject with Germany’s acting Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as contacted his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko. "Actually, after this the president expressed hope for direct contacts [between Brussels and Minsk]," the Kremlin official added.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was ready to assist in the resolution of the migrant situation on the border of Belarus and the EU in every way if anything depended on it.

The migrant crisis on the Belarusian border with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland where the migrants have been flocking since the beginning of the year, sharply aggravated on November 8. Several thousand people approached the Polish border from Belarus and refused to leave the area. Some of them attempted to enter Poland by destroying a barbed-wire fence. Currently, about 2,000 migrants are located in a makeshift camp. EU countries have accused Minsk of the intentional escalation of the crisis and have called for sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that the Western countries themselves were to blame for the situation since people were fleeing the war in their homelands because of the West’s actions.