Belarus leader claims Wagner group in 'bad mood' and are keen to march on Poland

24 July 2023 , 08:44

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Belarus leader claims Wagner group in 'bad mood' and are keen to march on Poland

During a cosy meeting with Russia's tyrannical leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday, Belarusian leaderAlexander Lukashenko hinted that the Wagner group plans to march on the Polish capital, Warsaw.

The strongmen sat down for a chat on Sunday as Lukashenko reported high levels of stress because he was having to hold back the band of murderous mercenaries.

In a video posted on Twitter by Ukrainian government advisor Anton Gerashchenko, Lukashenko said: "They are asking to go to the west: 'Allow us'."

He said he asked Wagner why they wanted to head west, and was told: "We control what happens: let's go on an excursion to Warsaw and Rzeszow [one of Poland's key military cities]."

Lukashenko said that Wagner recruits are desperate to march west (ALEXANDER DEMYANCHUK/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

"Going west" for the Wagner group would involve a simple 10km jaunt across the Polish border from where they were exiled after the bungled coup to oust Putin's military top brass.

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Lukashenko claims to be holding back the dam, "keeping them in central Belarus, like we agreed".

"We are controlling what is happening. [But] they are in a bad mood," he added.

Putin and Lukashenko are close allies (SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

During the conversation, he also showed Putin what he claimed were Polish plans to attack Belarus. In response to fears of the exact situation Lukashenko warned of, Poland has sent 1,000 troops to its eastern border with Belarus.

Poland's eastern border is close to a stretch of land considered NATO's eastern flank, and a point of vulnerability to the transnational organisation. If overwhelmed, the Baltic States would be cut off from their allies to the west.

It comes after the Kremlin accused Warsaw of making expansive moves towards the east.

Putin explained on Friday: "Poland’s leaders likely seek to set up a coalition under the NATO umbrella and directly join the conflict in Ukraine, and then 'tear off' a wider piece for themselves, restore their, as they believe, historical territory - today's western Ukraine."

Putin's paranoia comes from suspicion that Poland wants to retake land after it loss much of its territory following land grabs in 1772, 1792 and 1795.

New borders were drawn after WWII, but while most Poles resent the changes, there has been no movement to "retake" areas like Lviv.

Ryan Fahey