Poland will ship an extra 2,000 troops to bolster its border with Belarus, a deputy inside minister informed Poland’s state news company on Wednesday, amid heightened tensions within the space associated to the battle in Ukraine.

The minister, Maciej Wasik, mentioned that the deployment was double what the nation’s Border Guard had requested and that the reinforcements would arrive in two weeks, in response to PAP, Poland’s state news company. There was no rapid response from Belarus.

While Mr. Wasik didn’t specify to PAP what had prompted the choice, the deployment comes as issues are mounting in Poland, a NATO member, over the presence of mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner non-public navy firm in neighboring Belarus.

Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, mentioned final week that there have been at the least 4,000 Wagner fighters in Belarus. He warned against “provocations” and “sabotage actions” from Belarus by the relocated Wagner fighters, a warning that got here days after two Belarusian helicopters breached Polish airspace, heightening jitters within the area.

The Wagner fighters had been relocated to Belarus following their short-lived June mutiny in Russia. Belarus, a staunch Russian ally, shares a large border with each Poland, which helps Ukraine.

In late July, Poland mentioned it would move military forces to its jap border with Belarus, after the Belarusian Defense Ministry mentioned its troopers had been being skilled close to there by Wagner fighters.

Wagner’s future has been in query for the reason that aborted mutiny, which got here to an finish after President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus brokered a deal that allowed the Wagner forces to relocate to his nation.