Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel had a telephone conversation with Alexander Lukashenko, Reuters reports.

The talks lasted about 50 minutes. The politicians discussed the migration crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border and the possibility of providing humanitarian aid to refugees. They also agreed on further contacts. No other details were reported.

These are the first talks between Merkel and Lukashenko after the presidential elections in Belarus in August 2020. The voting results caused a wave of protests in the country and arrests of the participants. For this, the European Union introduced several packages of sanctions against Belarus.

The situation on the border between Poland and Belarus was also discussed in a telephone conversation between the presidents of France and Russia - Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin. They agreed on the need to de-escalate the crisis, but differed in their assessment of its causes.

The European Union claims that the crisis is caused by the actions of the Belarusian authorities, who lure migrants from the Middle East into the country and create all conditions for them to try to cross the border to the EU without the necessary documents. Poland believes that not only Minsk, but also Moscow is involved in the border crisis.

Vladimir Putin denies the accusations and claims that the migrants themselves reached the border. The Russian president has promised to "raise the issue" with Alexander Lukashenko, the Elysee Palace said.

Emmanuel Macron also told Vladimir Putin that France was ready to defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine, where a "large concentration of Russian troops" has been seen on the border in recent weeks.

Earlier, NATO head Jens Stoltenberg had warned Russia.