Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Acting Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the situation around refugees on the border of Belarus with the EU countries.

According to the Kremlin, the leaders examined the situation in detail and expressed concern about the humanitarian consequences of the migration crisis.

"The President of Russia proposed to establish a discussion of the problems that have arisen in direct contacts of representatives of the EU member states with Minsk," the message says.

In turn, Merkel said that she had asked the Russian leader to also influence the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on the issue of the migration crisis.

“Today I spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and asked him to influence President Lukashenko, because in this case people are used, they become victims of inhuman politics,” RIA Novosti quoted her as saying.

Merkel also stressed that the solution to the problem of migrants must be humane.

Let us remind you that on November 8, Poland, Lithuania and Belarus reported an aggravation of the situation at the border in connection with the flow of illegal migrants who arrived from the Belarusian territory.

Warsaw and Vilnius sent troops to the border to contain refugees attempting to break into Polish territory.

Against the background of the complication of the situation, Poland closed the Kuznitsa checkpoint on the border with Belarus.

The Border Service of the country reported that over the past 24 hours they recorded 599 attempts to illegally cross the border from Belarus. 

“Nine people were detained (five citizens of Lebanon, three citizens of Iraq, one citizen of Syria),” the message says.

As specified, 48 people were detained directly on Polish territory, in respect of whom orders were issued for expulsion from Poland.

Polish radio also reported that two large groups of illegal migrants were able to enter the country.

It is clarified that groups of at least several dozen people broke through the fence in the area of ​​Krynok and Bialowieza.

Some of the illegal immigrants who entered the territory of Poland were “returned to the border line”.

“This is an exceptional situation, the first in 30 years when we can say that the security and integrity of our borders is being attacked so harshly,” said the head of the Polish government, Mateusz Morawiecki.

He also said that the country is considering the possibility of sending illegal migrants home under the readmission procedure.

At the same time, the Minister of Defense of the Republic, Mariusz Blaszczak, said that Poland had increased the number of soldiers on the border with Belarus to 15 thousand.

In addition, on Wednesday, the Lithuanian Seimas approved the introduction of a state of emergency in the regions bordering with Belarus.

The spokesman for the Polish government, Piotr Müller, also said that the Polish authorities are considering the possibility of completely closing the border with Belarus in connection with the migration crisis.

At the same time, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Poland will close checkpoints on the border with Belarus if migrants attempt to storm.

In turn, the border committee of Belarus said that it was recording an escalation of tension on the border with Poland, where the refugees were. 

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  • © Leonid Shcheglov / BELTA

They said that in addition to the use of physical violence and the use of gas in attempts of refugees to go to the neighboring side, "Polish soldiers are using military weapons and shooting over their heads."

The head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Makei also called Poland's increase in the number of soldiers on the border with Belarus to 15 thousand as a violation of the norms.

“Today, having withdrawn ... already 15 thousand servicemen against crying women and children and not letting them into Europe, where they are so eager to get, - for me it is impossible to imagine,” said Makei.

Meanwhile, the head of the European Council Charles Michel said that the European Union should increase the sanctions pressure on Belarus in connection with the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrea Sasse said that EU foreign ministers will discuss the expansion of sanctions against Belarus on November 15.

In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova called the use of the migration problem as a pretext for sanctions against Belarus inadmissible.

She recalled that Moscow considers any unilateral Western sanctions against sovereign states to be illegitimate and unacceptable.