MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Warsaw’s attempts to involve NATO in resolving the migrant crisis at the Belarusian-Polish border are provocative and dangerous, as they may lead to escalation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.

"As for Poland’s calls on NATO to take part in resolving the crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border, they are actually both provocative and extremely dangerous. It might result in an unwanted escalation of the situation," the diplomat said.

She recalled that the NATO-led bombing campaign against Libya had triggered off migrant flows from North Africa to Europe once, and "the scale of that disaster surpasses all contemporary examples."

According to the diplomat, the number of refugees from that region and the Middle East is many times bigger than the number of those at the Polish border.

"The only way out of the situation is negotiations, contacts and dialogue with the countries that are now at the edge of this situation. The Belarusian authorities announced not only their readiness, but even practical steps which they could offer," Zakharova said.

"Along with this, we see cautious steps taken by Germany and the EU towards such contacts and dialogue. We proceed from the fact that in resolving this issue, the European Union will rely on its rich experience in solving problems on the southern migration routes," she concluded.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman emphasized that the attempts to shift the blame for the migrant crisis on Moscow "are absolutely groundless."

About the migrant crisis

The migrant crisis escalated dramatically on November 8 at the border of Belarus with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, where migrants have been flocking to since the beginning of 2021. Several thousand people have approached the Polish border from Belarusian territory and are not leaving the border area. Some of them tried to storm into Poland by getting over the barbed wire fence. European Union nations have accused Minsk of deliberate escalation and called for sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Western states are to shoulder the blame for the crisis as their actions make people flee from war.