Belarus threatens to cut gas supply to EU if bloc imposes sanctions over border crisis

France24 says Russian President Vladimir Putin told the European Union on Thursday it needs to start talks with Belarus if it hopes to resolve a crisis over hundreds of migrants trapped on the border with Poland.

Concern is growing for about 2,000 migrants, mainly Kurds from the Middle East, who are living in a tent camp on the border between Belarus and Poland in near-freezing temperatures.

Poland is refusing to allow the migrants to cross, accusing Minsk of luring them to Belarus to send across the border in revenge for sanctions.

The EU has so far refused any direct contacts with Belarus’s strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko, who on Thursday warned that any new sanctions would be met with a response, including potentially cutting off natural gas transit to Europe.

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20211111-putin-tells-eu-to-talk-with-belarus-to-resolve-migrant-crisis-at-polish-border