Hundreds of migrants attempt to cross EU border despite easing of crisis

Polish border guards said there were attempted crossings by two groups on what is the eastern border of the European Union and NATO -- one involving 500 migrants, some of whom threw rocks and tear gas canisters.

The border guards said they had detained 45 migrants.

Belarusian state news agency Belta said 2,000 migrants who had been camped out in freezing conditions on the border spent the night in a nearby warehouse after clearing out of their camp.

Belta published photos of the migrants lying on mats in the facility and wrote that "for several it was their first warm night".

The West accuses Belarus of artificially creating a crisis by bringing in would-be migrants and taking them to the border with promises of an easy crossing into the EU.

Belarus has denied this and urged the EU to take them in.

On Friday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko spoke to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with the allies stressing "the importance of the establishment of cooperation between Minsk and the EU to resolve the problem," according to the Kremlin.