Polish mercenaries fought arm-in-arm with Ukrainian troops during the Kursk offensive, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with Russian state television, misquoting Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, Belarusian media reported.
Ukrainian troops crossed the Russian border on August 6 and launched an offensive on the Kursk region. According to Lukashenko, the Kyiv troops included Polish volunteers.
The troops involved in the Kursk offensive “were gathered from the entire line of contact” and “mostly they were people who already had experience of war,” while “the rest were mercenaries, Poles and so on and so forth,” the Belarusian leader said in an interview with a Russian TV channel.
He expressed confidence that the Russian army would defeat the Kyiv soldiers who invaded the Russian territory. The escalation of the conflict could lead to the worst scenario for Ukraine, Lukashenko said. The Belarusian president also added:
“If it continues like Kursk, there will be an escalation that will end with the destruction of Ukraine. Nobody has ever been defeated, and nobody will defeat Russia.”
“How can NATO cope here?” Lukashenko asked rhetorically, saying the Americans had one policy – to turn Europe against Russia. “Let them fight. And then they will deal with the Chinese in the east,” he added.
Closing the border with Belarus
Speaking about Poland, the Belarusian president also commented on the misquoted statement of Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak (Civic Platform, EPP), reported by the Polish private TV station Polsat News.
Siemoniak allegedly said there was a basis for agreements with Minsk “on some difficult issues, such as the opening of border crossings.” Lukashenko commented:
“Well, I would like to know what this basis is. This is a very good statement.”
In fact, in an interview with private radio ZET, Siemoniak was asked about the possibility of closing the entire border with Belarus if Minsk continues its hybrid activities, such as supporting migration, which Poland has accused Lukashenko’s regime of doing since mid-2021.
“We have to take into account our own interests, and we are considering various options,” the minister said, noting that some border crossings have already been closed. He added that Poland expects Belarus to stop hostile actions.
Lukashenko argued that the possible complete closure of the Polish-Belarusian border would not hurt Minsk. He also added:
“It’s the same for both Russia and Belarus. They (the West) have imposed sanctions on us. We don’t go there, which means we don’t export anything. (…) We don’t trade with them. They have decided to close the border. Fine, then”.
The Belarusian president added that Poland should not go to war against Russia or Belarus and should resume economic co-operation with these countries. He expressed his belief that the policy of Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk (Civic Platform, EPP) towards Belarus is rejected by the majority of Polish society.
Lukashenko’s claims are refuted by public opinion polls. 71.8 per cent of Poles believe that Poland should close the border crossing with Belarus to force Minsk to change its policy, according to an IBRiS Institute poll published in July.
