MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the refugee crisis at the border between Belarus and the EU and expressed hope that the issue will be resolved in the near future, the Kremlin said.
"With regards to the issue of the situation at the border of Belarus and EU countries, which was raised by Emmanuel Macron, the president of Russia spoke in favor of discussing the problems through direct contacts between representatives of the EU members and Minsk," the Kremlin statement said, following the phone talks between the leaders.
The statement said it was highlighted during the talks that "Poland and the Baltic states violated international commitments to protect refugee rights and that it was necessary to settle the migration crisis in compliance with humanitarian law."
"A hope was expressed that the issue of migrants at the border will be removed from the agenda completely in the near future," the Kremlin said.
Refugees flocked to the border of Belarus with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania starting earlier this year. Things took a sharp turn for the worse on November 8 when a few thousand people, including migrants from the Middle East and Africa, approached the Polish border from the side of Belarus. Some of them attempted to break through into Poland by tearing down a barbed-wire fence.