Russia blames EU for looming migrant 'catastrophe', sends bombers to overfly Belarus

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 4, 2021. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia blamed the European Union on Wednesday for the migrant crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland, accusing it of trying to "strangle" Belarus with plans to close part of the frontier and urging it to talk directly with Minsk.

As migrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa made new attempts to break into Poland overnight, Moscow sent a further signal of support for its ally Belarus by dispatching two strategic bomber planes to patrol Belarusian airspace.