Russia plays ‘war games’ in Belarus
WASHINGTON: The US says it is worried that the arrival of Russian troops in Belarus for military exercises could lead to a permanent presence that might introduce nuclear weapons into the country.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki described the Russian forces’ move into Belarus as part of as “extremely dangerous situation”.
“We’re now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack in Ukraine,” she said.
A series of talks last week between Russia, the US and NATO failed to quell the tensions over Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet his Russian counterpart Sergey
Lavrov in Geneva on Friday in another attempt to defuse the crisis.
Russian military forces moved into Belarus after Moscow-allied strongman Alexander Lukashenko announced that the two countries would conduct military exercises next month.
The move, which came without the advance notice customarily provided to countries in the region, added to rising tensions with the West over the possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, which borders Belarus.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had received a shipment of antitank weapons from the UK, noting that they would help
“strengthen our defence capability”. The statement didn’t say how many weapons were delivered.
Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin said the drills with Belarus would involve simulating a joint response to external threats.
Russia has already started moving troops for the war games in Belarus. Mr Fomin said it would take until February 9 to fully deploy weapons and personnel for the Allied Resolve 2022 drills, which are likely to take place between February 10 and 20.
He didn’t say how many troops would be involved in the drills, but the deployment will boost the estimated
100,000 Russian troops with tanks and other heavy weapons already in place near Ukraine – further stoking fears of an invasion.
A US official, speaking on grounds of anonymity, said the size of the Russian force arriving in Belarus was “beyond what we’d expect of a normal exercise”.
“The timing is notable and, of course, raises concerns that Russia could intend to station troops in Belarus under the guise of joint military exercises in order to attack Ukraine,” the official said.
They said changes to the Belarus constitution in a referendum next month could allow the Russian military presence to be permanent.
“These draft constitutional changes may indicate Belarus plans to allow both Russian conventional and nuclear forces to be stationed on its territory,” the official said.
That would represent a “challenge to European security that may require a response”, they added.
Belarus also borders Poland, a member of NATO.
The official said the numbers of troops mobilised “are beyond of course what we would expect with regards to a normal exercise”.
“Mr Lukashenko has relied more and more on Russia for all kinds of support. It’s clear Russia is calling in a little bit of accumulated IOUS,” the official said.