MINSK, November 15. /TASS/. Ways of settling the migration crisis at Belarus’ borders with the European Union were the focus of a 50-minute telephone conversation between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and German acting Chancellor Angela Merkel, BelTA agency reported on Monday.
"A 50-minute telephone conversation between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and German acting Chancellor Angela Merkel was held this evening," it said. "The sides discussed a range of problems, first of all the situation with refugees at the Belarusian-Polish, Belarusian-Lithuanian and Belarusian-Latvian borders.
Apart from that, Lukashenko and Merkel "discussed in detail humanitarian assistance to the refugees."
According to the agency, Lukashenko and Merkel discussed in detail ways of and prospects for the resolution of the migration problem in order to prevent further escalation of the situation at the border. "Lukashenko and Merkel agreed to continue contacts to settle the situation," it said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on November 13 he hoped Angela Merkel and Alexander Lukashenko would be able to speak with each other soon. In his words, it is important because migrants want to reach Germany.
The migration crisis at Belarus’ border with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia deteriorated dramatically on November 8, when several thousand migrants approached the Polish border and have been staying in the border area ever since. From time to time they try to break through the fences and cross into Poland, but are stopped by Polish law enforcers. Currently, there are around 2,000 migrants in the improvised camp at the border.
EU countries accuse Minsk of deliberate escalation of the crisis and call for more sanctions against Belarus. Meanwhile, Lukashenko said that the blame for this situation rests on Western countries because people are fleeing their countries gripped by hostilities provoked by their actions.
Dialogue on migrants
Merkel and Lukashenko emphasized in their phone call on Monday the importance of rendering humanitarian aid to the migrants amassed on the borders of Belarus and EU countries, Federal Government Spokesman Steffen Seibert told journalists on Monday.
Meanwhile, in the official press release after the phone conversation, Lukashenko is not referred to as president.
"Chancellor Angela Merkel had a conversation with Alexander Lukashenko today. The chancellor and Mr. Lukashenko discussed a difficult situation on the border between Belarus and the EU, especially, the need to provide humanitarian assistance to the refugees and migrants there," Seibert said. "They agreed to continue a dialogue on these issues," the spokesman said.