Belarus, Ukraine beef up border controls after detention of alleged Russian mercenaries

MINSK (Reuters) - Belarus and Ukraine have agreed to beef up their border controls and expand border cooperation after Belarus detained more than 30 alleged Russian mercenaries near Minsk ahead of Belarus' presidential election, the Belarusian foreign ministry said.

The move aims to prevent any attempts to destabilise the two countries, the Belarusian ministry said in a statement following a meeting with Russia's ambassador to Belarus and the acting Ukrainian ambassador there.