NATO and the EU will respond decisively to a possible Russian escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister has said.
On Saturday at a press conference in Gdańsk, northern Poland, Morawiecki expressed his concern about Russia building up massed troops in its western neighbour Belarus, near the Ukrainian border, and raising fears that Moscow might plan to open a new front in its war against Ukraine.
“Everyone in Europe and the entire free world is concerned about whether the Kremlin intends to attack Ukraine from the northwest, to open a new front… to break the lines of communication that run from Poland, Slovakia, Romania towards the east, the humanitarian supply lines, arms supply lines, so that Ukraine can defend itself,” he said.
Referring to the meeting of the European Council, held on Thursday and Friday, Morawiecki said that European Union leaders “had not only agreed to strengthen the bloc’s assistance to Ukraine in its further fight for freedom and sovereignty but also that in the event of a possible Russian escalation both NATO and the European Union will respond very decisively.”
“We will definitely not leave Ukraine on its own. We will certainly find appropriate tools, instruments and solutions to respond to the escalation on the part of Russia,” he said.
On Friday, the British defence ministry said that the daily intelligence update shows that on October 14, Belarussian president Aleksandr Lukashenko announced that 70,000 Belarusian troops and up to 15,000 Russians would be involved in a new Russian-Belarussian grouping of troops.
On October 15, the authorities in Minsk published a recording showing what they say was the arrival of Russian troops in Belarus. In addition, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine recently announced that in Belarus, under the guise of training, a secret mobilisation to the Belarusian army was underway.