President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany agreed in a telephone call that Minsk and the EU should discuss the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border, Belarus said on Wednesday.
Thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, are camped on the border in what the West says is revenge for sanctions slapped on Lukashenko's regime after its brutal suppression of protests against his rule.
Lukashenko and his main ally, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, have rejected the accusations and criticised the EU for not taking in the migrants.
Citing Lukashenko's press service, the Belarus state news agency Belta said the Belarusian leader and Merkel "agreed that the problem as a whole will be brought up to the level of Belarus and the EU".
"Relevant officials to be determined from both sides will immediately start negotiations to resolve the existing problems," Belta said.
Those discussions will also consider the wishes of the migrants to get to Germany, the news agency added, saying that Lukashenko and Merkel agreed on maintaining contacts.
The call was the second between the Belarusian and German leaders this week, after Putin had called on EU leaders to talk directly to Lukashenko.
The migrants say they want to get to Germany via Poland and Lukashenko has said that he is ready to send them there by plane if necessary.
Migrants have been trying to cross from Belarus into EU member Poland for months, but tensions increased last week as coordinated efforts to cross were turned back by Polish border guards.
The EU accuses Lukashenko of luring the migrants to the Polish border, a claim he has denied.
(France 24 with AFP)
