Андрей Сибига. Фото: МИД Украины
Ukraine believes Russia is behind the provocation on the Belarus-Latvia border and is using migration to destabilize Europe. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said this in a statement.
“Ukraine expresses full solidarity with Latvia over the incident on its border with Belarus, during which armed individuals threatened Latvian military personnel while escorting migrants toward the border.
There should be no doubt: Moscow is behind this. Putin is deliberately using migration as a weapon with Lukashenka’s assistance to destabilize Europe.
This is part of a broader aggressive strategy. Russia and the Belarusian regime continue to test European security, increasingly resorting to acts of sabotage,” Sybiha said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry believes that Russia’s policy should be met with increased pressure, stronger borders and greater support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Latvian army reported a provocation on the Belarus-Latvia border earlier this week. Armed masked men drove a group of at least 20 migrants toward the Latvian border and threatened Latvian military personnel.
The attempt to cross the border was thwarted, but several hours later masked men entered Latvian territory, damaged a distribution cabinet, stole surveillance cameras and fled to Belarus before Latvian border guards arrived.