Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the European Union to contribute financially to the estimated $250 billion needed to rebuild Syria so that the millions of “refugees” elsewhere can go home—because they are “huge burden for Europe.”

Speaking to the media this weekend ahead of a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany, Putin said Europe and Russia “need to strengthen the humanitarian effort in the Syrian conflict.

“By that, I mean above all humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, and help the regions where refugees living abroad can return to.”

Earlier this month, a Russian suggestion that the United States and Russia form a joint group to finance infrastructure renovation in Syria was met with an icy reception, according to a US memo seen by Reuters.

There are currently one million refugees in Jordan, the same number in Lebanon, and three million in Turkey, Putin said.

Referring to the millions of “refugees” who invaded Europe after Merkel declared Germany’s borders open in 2015, Putin said that this was “a huge burden for Europe.

“That’s why we have to do everything to get these people back home,” he added, emphasizing the need to properly restore basic services such as water supplies and health care.

The conflict in Syria—caused directly by US, EU, Israeli and Saudi intervention in that country—all in an attempt to depose its elected leader, Basheer al-Asaad, has killed about half a million people, driven about 5.6 million out and displaced a further 6.6 million within it.

* Earlier last week, Putin made no secret of which side of the political fence he stands in Europe with regards to the fake refugee invasion of Europe when he personally attended the wedding of Austria’s Freedom Party’s foreign minister Karin Kneissl in Austria.

Putin, who brought a Cossack band with him to join in the celebrations, was seen dancing with Kneissl and enjoying the company of senior Austrian FPÖ politicians, including party leader HC Strache.