PUTIN WARNS POLAND: ‘WILL ACT TO AGGRESSION AGAINST BELARUS’

Fri 21 July 2023:

President Vladimir Putin has accused Poland of having territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union and said any aggression against close ally Belarus would be considered a threat against Russia.

In a televised meeting of his Security Council, Putin said Moscow would react to any aggression against Belarus “with all means at our disposal”.

Poland, a member of the Western NATO military alliance, began moving more than 1,000 troops, along with military hardware, to the east of the country as Russian Wagner fighters arrived in Belarus.

On Thursday, the Polish defence ministry said, “Poland’s borders are secure, we are monitoring the situation on our eastern border on an ongoing basis and we are prepared for various scenarios as the situation develops.”

Speaking about Ukraine’s much-touted counteroffensive Putin claimed that despite getting financial and military help from the West, Kyiv has been unable to gain desired results.

“In any case, there are no results yet,” Putin said of the counteroffensive.

“Neither the colossal resources that have been pumped into the Kyiv regime nor the supplies of Western weapons, tanks, artillery, armoured vehicles and missiles are helping,” he added.

Putin said the diminishing number of Western tanks, artillery, armored vehicles and missiles supplied to Ukraine, as well as “thousands of foreign mercenaries and advisers,” have not helped Kyiv achieve military objectives, Moscow Times reported

The Russian president further claimed that “tens of thousands” of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and wounded, though he did not provide any evidence to support to his claim.

Germany and NATO are prepared to support Poland

Germany and NATO members are prepared to support Poland in defending its eastern flank, German defence minister Boris Pistorius said in Prague.

“Where the Polish partners need support, they will receive it,” Pistorius said at a press conference with his Czech counterpart in Prague.

“They are NATO partners and reliable NATO allies, so we can confidently say that we are prepared.”

Earlier this month, Poland’s security committee decided to move military units to the east of the country due to the Russian Wagner Group’s presence in Belarus.

Ukraine’s sluggish counteroffensive

Ukraine has claimed to have recaptured 300 square kilometers of occupied areas as part of their summer counteroffensive.

But by their own admission, their counter-operation has so far been sluggish.

This week, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces admitted that the battlefield situation in eastern Ukraine was “complicated.”

In June, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that counteroffensive may be going “slower than desired” but has insisted that he will not needlessly risk soldiers’ lives to meet international expectations.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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