Russia and NATO weigh in as crisis mounts on Belarus-Poland border

The European Union accused Belarus on Wednesday of mounting a "hybrid attack" by pushing migrants across the border into Poland, paving the way for widened sanctions against Minsk in a crisis that threatens to draw in Russia and NATO.

Russia took the rare step of dispatching two nuclear-capable strategic bombers to patrol Belarusian airspace in a show of support for its close ally. Poland briefed fellow NATO allies at a closed-door meeting and they pledged their support, an alliance official said.

Migrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa trapped in Belarus made multiple attempts to force their way into Poland overnight, Warsaw said, announcing that it had reinforced the border with extra guards.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called on states to reduce tensions and resolve the "intolerable" crisis.

"These hundreds of men, women and children must not be forced to spend another night in freezing weather without adequate shelter, food, water and medical care," she said.

The EU, which has repeatedly sanctioned Belarus for human rights abuses, accuses Minsk of luring migrants from war-torn and impoverished countries and then pushing them to cross into Poland to try to sow violent chaos on the bloc's eastern flank.

"We are facing a brutal hybrid attack on our EU borders. Belarus is weapon migrants' distress in a cynical and shocking way," EU Council President Charles Michel said.

The bloc's 27 ambassadors agreed this constituted a legal basis for further sanctions, which could come as early as next week and target some 30 individuals and entities including the Belarusian foreign minister and the national airline.

"Very rapidly at the beginning of next week there will be a widening of the sanctions against Belarus," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters after a meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington.

"We will look into the possibility of sanctioning those airlines who facilitate human trafficking towards Minsk and then the EU-Belarus border," she added.

Biden and von der Leyen addressed the humanitarian situation on the European Union's border with Belarus and expressed "deep concern about the irregular migration flows", the White House said. Separately, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: "The idea that Belarus would weaponize migration is also profoundly objectionable."

He said Washington will keep pressure on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko "as long as the regime is refusing to respect its international obligations, or commitments, as long as it's undermining peace and security in Europe through its actions and as long as it continues to repress and abuse people..."

Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin have pinned the blame on the EU.

The Kremlin accused Europe of failing to live up to its own humanitarian ideals and trying to "strangle" Belarus with plans to close part of the frontier. Moscow said it was unacceptable for the EU to impose sanctions on Belarus over the crisis.