The president of Belarus suggested that European leaders be thankful that he had only joked about deploying Wagner Group troops against them.
with the Russian news outlet Interfax on July 23 that Wagner troops in his country were becoming restless, and that he might encourage them to march on Poland.
"The Wagnerites started to bother us," the Belarusian leader said."They say, 'We want to go West. Let us.' I ask them, Why West? 'Well, to go on an excursion to Warsaw, to Rzeszow.' I'm keeping them in the center of Belarus, as was agreed upon, I would not like to relocate them there, because they are in a bad mood."
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a press conference on December,19,2022, in Minsk. Lukashenko said he was joking when he said he'd send Wagner troops to march on Poland.The remarks did little to dampen concern amongst Polish leaders, including Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who days later voiced worries about a group of roughly 100 Wagner troops who appeared to be moving towards the Suwałki Gap, a key strategic area for Poland and other countries in the region.
On Tuesday, however, Lukashenko said during a visit to a farming community that the remarks had only been a joke and suggested that European leaders should be thanking him for not deploying Wagner forces against them.
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