MINSK, November 11. /TASS/. Russian and Belarusian forces will carry out joint combat alert patrols along the Union State’s borders with Poland, the Baltic states and Ukraine, according to an agreement reached between Russia and Belarus, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday, the presidential press office reported.
Lukashenko said that he had discussed this issue with the Russian president.
"As we have agreed, from Moscow to Gomel along the southern border of Belarus, then along the western border to Postavy in the Vitebsk Region and flying back to Moscow from Postavy through Orsha. This ring around the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine must be monitored by Russian and Belarusian servicemen," Lukashenko said at a government meeting.
"We have agreed with Russia on that. There is no time for jokes. The situation is very serious there. The most serious thing is that they have departed from the accords. We do not know what they want," Lukashenko said.
As Lukashenko said, "the Russians and Belarusians must jointly control this situation."
Russian strategic bombers were sent to Belarus on Thursday, he said. "We must constantly monitor the situation on the border. Let them scream and cry. Yes, these are bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons. But we have no other way out. We must see what they are doing outside," the head of state said.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry reported on Thursday that two Russian Tu-160 strategic missile-carrying bombers practiced training tasks in the republic’s airspace, including simulated bombing on an aviation training ground. The ministry also issued a statement, pointing to Poland’s inadequate behavior as the Polish authorities amassed 15,000 troops, the armor and air defense capabilities on the border with Belarus over the migration crisis.
As the Belarusian Defense Ministry pointed out, these moves more resemble the creation of a strike group and run counter to bilateral agreements between Warsaw and Minsk.
The migration crisis on the border of Belarus with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, where illegal migrants are seeking to cross into EU territory, escalated on November 8. Several thousand migrants have approached the Polish border from Belarus and are refusing to leave the area. Some of them have attempted to venture into Polish territory by breaking a barbed wire fence. EU countries have accused Minsk of deliberately provoking the crisis and called for more sanctions against Belarus.
For his part, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that Western countries are to blame for these developments because it is their actions that have caused people to flee countries ravaged by wars triggered by the West.