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Polish PM urges Russia to ditch plans for military intervention in Belarus

27.08.2020 16:30
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday his government had urged Russia ditch any plans for a military intervention in Belarus.
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  • Polish PM urges Russia to ditch plans for military intervention in Belarus
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

"The Polish government calls on Russia to immediately withdraw from plans for military intervention in Belarus under the false pretext of ‘reinstating control’ -- a hostile act violating international law and the human rights of Belarusians, who should be free to decide their own fate," Morawiecki wrote on Twitter.

A series of massive demonstrations have swept Belarus this month to protest strongman Alexander Lukashenko's claim to a sixth term as president in an election widely dismissed as rigged.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Lukashenko had asked him to set up a reserve police force, but promised not to use it unless the crisis got out of control, the Interfax news agency reported.

Polish state news agency PAP reported that in a television interview Putin said he had agreed to Lukashenko’s request.

Putin added, as cited by PAP: “However, we also agreed that this reserve will not be used as long as the situation does not get out of control and as long as extremist elements, hiding behind political slogans, do not exceed certain limits and do not start… burning cars, houses, banks, occupying administrative buildings and so on.”

The RIA news agency reported that Putin said Russia saw no need for now to use Russian forces in Belarus over the political crisis following the disputed Aug. 9 presidential election, and that Moscow felt the situation was normalising.

(pk)

Source: IAR/PAP/Reuters

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