Putin: NATO exercises in the Black Sea are a serious challenge

LAST UPDATE: 12.36

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Washington-NATO military exercises in the Black Sea a “serious challenge” to Russia in an interview released today.

“The United States and its NATO allies are conducting unplanned exercises in the Black Sea. Not only with a fairly strong naval team, but also with the air force, including strategic air force,” Putin said in an interview with Russian television. posted on the Kremlin website.

Putin also denied any responsibility for the immigration crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland, where thousands of migrants have been gathering for days. “I want everyone to know this. We have nothing to do with it,” the president told Vesti, after several Westerners accused him this week of orchestrating Minsk to send these migrants to the border.

In comments posted on the Kremlin’s website, Putin said he hoped Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would speak directly about the crisis and that migrants mainly wanted to go to Germany.

Putin also said he had not been briefed by Lukashenko on the possible termination of Russian gas transit to Europe, adding that he would speak to his Belarusian counterpart about the report from Minsk. Mr Lukashenko said on Thursday that before the EU imposed sanctions on Minsk, it would have to take into account the gas and products it receives through Belarus.

“Honestly, this is the first time I have heard this. I have spoken to Alexander Grigorievich (Lukashenko) twice in the last two years and he has never said that to me, not even a hint,” Putin told Rossiya 24. “Although there is nothing good about it, of course I will talk to him about it. Unless he says it in earnest,” Putin added.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ