Wagner Troops in Belarus May Be ‘Risk’ to Area: Poland

The presence of Wagner troops in Belarus may pose a possible “menace” to the nations of the area, Polish President Andrzej Duda mentioned Wednesday throughout a go to to Ukraine.

“It’s troublesome for us to exclude at present that the presence of the Wagner Group in Belarus may pose a possible menace to Poland, which shares a border with Belarus, a menace to Lithuania… in addition to doubtlessly to Latvia,” Duda advised reporters in Kyiv.

Following a revolt by the mercenary group, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that Wagner lose its heavy weaponry, and that its fighters both be part of the common armed forces or settle for exile in Belarus.

“The query arises: what’s the function of this relocation?” mentioned the Polish president.

“What are the actual intentions of the Wagner Group forces, in different phrases, the Russian military, exactly in Belarus?”

“Is it a type of potential menace exactly in the direction of our nations, in the direction of NATO nations, in the direction of Poland?” Duda added, talking subsequent to his Lithuanian and Ukrainian counterparts.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg mentioned Tuesday it was nonetheless too early to attract conclusions from the transfer to Belarus of Prigozhin and, seemingly, a few of his forces.

However he vowed that the alliance was able to defend its members.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned NATO needed to ship “a really direct” message in protection of the alliance.

“If the alliance is highly effective… then NATO should unanimously inform the Polish and Lithuanian societies that if one foot of 1 Wagner fighter is on the unbiased territory of Lithuania or Poland, then all Wagner fighters can be destroyed,” Zelensky mentioned.

“And the Vilnius summit is a superb platform to make such a really direct message,” Zelensky added, referring to the NATO summit to be held in Lithuania on July 11-12.