LONDON, 15 November 2021, (TON): British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to intervene in the crisis that has left thousands of migrants trapped on the Belarus-Poland border.

Truss wrote in the Sunday Telegraph “Russia has a clear responsibility here. It must press the Belarusian authorities to end the crisis and enter into dialogue.”

Putin on Saturday denied claims Moscow is helping to orchestrate the situation, blaming Western policies in the Middle East for creating the migrant crisis.

He told state television “I want everyone to know. We have nothing to do with it.”

The migrants, mainly Kurds, have been stuck for days on the border in near-freezing temperatures, setting up a tent camp and burning wood to keep warm.

Belarus says there are about 2,000 people in the camp, including pregnant women and children. Poland says there are between 3,000 and 4,000 migrants on the border, with more arriving every day.

Truss said that the stand-off marked the “latest step” by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko “to undermine regional security.”

She wrote “He is using desperate migrants as pawns in his bid to create instability and cling on to power, regardless of the human cost.”