Kremlin Hails EU-Belarus Talks over Migrant Crisis

Russia welcomed, on Wednesday, direct talks held between EU and Belarus officials over a migrant crisis on the Polish border.

"It is very important that contact has been made between representatives of the EU and the leadership of Belarus," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The statement comes days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the issue with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko.

On Monday, Merkel called Lukashenko to discuss the situation on the Poland-Belarus border, where thousands of migrants have gathered in a crisis the EU blames on Minsk.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had also discussed the crisis with Belarus foreign minister Vladimir Makei.

On his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin had called on the West to speak directly to his ally Lukashenko, increasingly isolated since violently suppressing opposition protests last year.

Moreover, the Kremlin stated that Putin and Lukashenko discussed "possible solutions" for the crisis on Tuesday.

Putin had a phone call with Merkel in which they called Belarusian’s regime “instrumentalization of migrants” as inhumane and acceptable. The two leaders agreed to continue talking about the topic.