Belarus says EU sanctions 'counter-productive' in migrant crisis talks

European Union sanctions against Belarus over the migrant crisis on the Polish border are "hopeless" and "counter-productive", Minsk said on Sunday.

The comments by Belarus's Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell came in the first high-level contact between Brussels and Minsk since the crisis that the West blames on the authoritarian country.

Thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, are camped out on the EU-Belarus border, in a crisis that Brussels blames on the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.

Borrell earlier said that Brussels would expand its sanctions on Monday to include anyone "taking part in the trafficking of migrants" in Belarus, including airlines, travel agencies, and officials.

According to the statement, Makei informed Borrell of "steps taken by Belarus to reduce the flow of migrants from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East".

The pair also discussed working with UN-led organizations on getting aid to the hundreds of migrants stuck in freezing temperatures on the border, Minsk said.

In a tweet, Borrell said he had raised the "precarious humanitarian situation at the border with the EU" with Makei.

"People's lives must be protected and humanitarian agencies allowed access," Borrell said.

"The current situation is unacceptable and must stop. People should not be used as weapons," he added.

Dozens of migrants have been detained after crossing into Poland from Belarus, Warsaw said Sunday, warning of a possible larger breakthrough ahead of an EU meeting to widen sanctions on Belarus.

Polish authorities have created an emergency zone at the border.

Western countries accuse Lukashenko's regime of engineering the crisis by encouraging migrants to come to Belarus and then taking them to the border.

Minsk denies the charges and blames the West.