Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Belarusian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka on July 23 in St. Petersburg. He was apparently jokingly quoted as saying that fighters from the Russian mercenary group Wagner, who are now training the Belarusian army, were interested in crossing the border into NATO member Poland.
“The Wagner boys started charging us. They want to go west. ‘Let’s take a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow,'” he was quoted as saying.
Poland is moving Additional troops were sent towards the border with Belarus in response to the arrival of Wagner troops, who were transferred there after a short-lived mutiny in Russia last month.
‘Something is going to happen’: Fears in Poland as Wagner trains Belarusian soldiers ‘5 kilometers’ from border
The meeting comes two days after Moscow warned that any aggression against ally Belarus would be counted as an attack on Russia. Putin said Moscow will use all means at its disposal to respond to any hostility toward Minsk.
Although he did not send troops of his own to Ukraine, Lukashenko allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory to launch its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has met frequently with Putin since.
In comments to Lukashenka, Putin claimed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had “failed”.
“There is no counter-offensive,” Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenka as saying.
Putin replied: “It exists, but it failed.”
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Ukraine launched its long-awaited counter-offensive last month, but has so far had little success against well-entrenched Russian forces.
US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on July 18 that Ukraine’s push was “far from a failure” and said it would be long, hard and bloody.
With reporting from Portal