Poland to Send 10,000 Troops to Belarus Border; Minsk, Moscow Vow ‘Symmetric Response’

Warsaw prepares to send more troops to the border of Belarus, which Russia describes as its ‘No. 1 ally.’ According to officials in Moscow and Minsk, Poland’s ongoing military buildup is part of a wider NATO plan to exert pressure on them.

Polish soldiers and police watch illegal immigrants at the Poland/Belarus border near Kuznica, Poland, in this photograph released by the Territorial Defence Forces, on Nov. 12, 2021. Irek Dorozanski/DWOT/via Reuters

NATO member Poland has announced plans to send thousands of additional troops to its increasingly tense border with Belarus, a key Russian ally.

Moscow and Minsk, which are bound by their own defense treaty, have both pledged to respond to perceived “unfriendly steps” by Warsaw.