Merkel asks Putin to mediate the crisis with Belarus and Russia defends direct dialogue between those affected

The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, on Wednesday asked the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to act as a mediator to resolve the conflict between the European Union and Belarus. Putin proposes direct talks between the affected countries to resolve the migration crisis.

The two leaders have spoken by phone about the situation on the border between Poland and Belarus, where in recent days they have concentrated to try to enter the European Union. Merkel has taken the opportunity to denounce the “instrumentalization of migrants” by Alexander Lukashenko’s government and has described their behavior as “inhuman” and “unacceptable”.

According to the Russian government, Putin has proposed that the countries affected by this crisis hold direct talks. The presidents of Russia and Belarus already spoke on Tuesday by phone and this Wednesday the Belarusian Foreign Minister is visiting Moscow. Russia is the main ally of Belarus.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that the European Union (EU) would not be drawn into a confrontation with Belarus and Russia as a result of the migration crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border.

“I very much hope that responsible Europeans, the great European powers, have the will and do not allow themselves to be dragged into a spiral (of confrontation), which is extremely dangerous,” he said in a joint press conference with his Belarusian counterpart, Vladimir Makéi, in Moscow. Lavrov advocates solving the conflict through dialogue and the head of Russian diplomacy assured that Belarus is open to it.

At the same time, he added that “neither the Poles nor the Lithuanians” have turned to Moscow for possible mediation in the migration crisis.