Putin told Poland on Friday that aggression against Russian ally Belarus would be seen as an attack on Russia. Russia has located nuclear weapons in Belarus.
An attack on Belarus, Putin said per Reuters, would be met "with all the means at our disposal." This comes as the Wagner Group, a private militia group run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, has begun training with the Belarusian army. Poland shifted its military force to the eastern side of the country.
Poland is part of NATO, and an attack on that nation would trigger Article 5 of that treaty, which states explicitly that an attack on one nation is an attack on all.
"In his remarks," Reuters wrote, "Putin had also stated that the western part of Poland was a gift from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to the country and that Russia would remind Poles about it." Putin made his remarks during a Security Council meeting that was televised.
In response, Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said "Stalin was a war criminal, guilty of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Poles. Historical truth is not debatable."
"The ambassador of the Russian Federation will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Morawiecki said.
Putin alleged that Poland has designs on Belarus. Poland shares borders with Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania.
