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Poland vows to go it alone to block its Belarus border even if the EU doesn't OK the move

Poland, Lithuania and Latvia — which share borders with Belarus — are said to be in discussions to prevent shipments to and from Russia

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On March 25, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine sent a letter to the European Commission with a proposal to completely block transport services with Russia and Belarus.

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But in apparent growing urgency, Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland Andrii Deshchytsia says his officials are already in talks with Warsaw to “completely close” the border to all traffic with Belarus, according to Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.

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“We are holding talks with the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure, with the Polish government, in order to completely close the border between Poland and Belarus — even if the decision is not taken at the level of the European Union,” Deshchytsia said.

“I think that if such a decision is made, it will not be necessary to wait for the decision of the European Union — we will completely block any supplies to Russia,” Deshchytsia said.

Recent tension between Poland and Belarus is rooted in Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s animus with the EU, which questioned the validity of his 2020 election to a sixth term. He created a migrant crisis by allowing thousands of immigrants, primarily from Iraqi Kurdistan, into Belarus and then forcing them to enter Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. The three governments declared a state of emergency and announced their decisions to build border walls to keep people from entering via Belarus, though border walls are against the EU’s principles.

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Now, in the face of Russia’s attack, Ukraine is also reportedly in talks with Latvia and Lithuania to close their borders with Belarus, in a bid to block supply routes to Russia.

Deshchytsia added that its negotiations are also underway with EU and NATO member Estonia, which doesn’t have a border with Belarus but has Russia as its eastern neighbour.

A spokesperson for Latvia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Newsweek that Latvia “strongly supports current sectoral sanctions against Belarus as well as personal sanctions against players in Belarus politics, police, military and business community in connection to fraudulent presidential elections, hijacking of passenger airplane, hybrid attack on the EU borders and involvement in Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

“Further sanctions and restrictive measures against Belarus are being considered.”

An Estonian diplomatic official, who did not wish to be named, told Newsweek there have been no discussions on implementation of the proposal.

Newsweek also contacted officials in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Lithuania for comment.

Belarus was hit with EU sanctions last year after a Ryanair flight was diverted to Minsk and Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich was arrested when he deplaned. Protasevich was the editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel Nexta.

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And with Russia pressing on in bombing eastern Ukraine despite assurances it would scale back, on Wednesday night Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the U.S. for an additional $500 million in aid announced earlier that day, but called for more assistance.

“If we really are fighting for freedom and in defence of democracy together, then we have a right to demand help in this difficult turning point. Tanks, aircraft, artillery systems. Freedom should be armed no worse than tyranny,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that Russia’s deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin had said Russian forces would fall back from Kyiv and Chernihiv to “increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations.”

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But Zelenskyy said those signals “do not drown out the ruptures of Russian shells.”

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Britain has warned that Russia was likely to continue its bombardment of Ukraine through missile strikes and mass artillery to compensate for its limited ability to operate on the ground.

But its military losses could also lead to a different approach, including cyber attacks, analysts at Eurasia said.

Cyber attacks have taken place on Ukrainian critical infrastructure, government services, banks and telecoms, analytics firm CyberCube said in a report earlier this month.

Russian government institutions and businesses are also being targeted by cyber attackers, CyberCube said, adding that some attacks have spilled over into Belarus, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

— with additional reporting by Reuters

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