Russia can take advantage of the upcoming joint exercises with the armed forces of Belarus and attack Ukraine from the north. This version was made at a special briefing by a high-ranking State Department employee.
“Reports about the transfer of Russian troops to Belarus, which is carried out under the pretext of regular exercises planned in advance, cause concern,” she said.
According to the diplomat, the timing of the exercises is noteworthy. She is sure that there are fears that Russia could deploy forces in Belarus under the pretext of joint exercises, “to potentially attack Ukraine from the north.”
“I believe that for the Belarusians, the involvement of Belarus in such an attack would be completely unacceptable,” the State Department employee added.
On the same day, it became known that Washington was concerned about Russian military exercises in Belarus. According to US Permanent Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, reports of military exercises in Belarus, as well as Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine, “are a signal to the United States that Russia is aggressive towards Ukraine.”
Earlier on Tuesday, a representative of the US State Department expressed fears that a constitutional referendum in Belarus would allow the deployment of Russian troops and nuclear forces in the country. The representative of the American foreign policy department explained that the proposed changes to the Constitution of the republic can be interpreted as opening the way for Russia to deploy its forces on Belarusian territory.
On January 18, units from the Russian Armed Forces began to arrive in Belarus as part of an inspection of the reaction forces of the Union State. At the first stage of the verification, until February 9, redeployment and the creation of groupings of troops will be carried out.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported earlier that the joint exercises of Russia and Belarus “Allied Resolve – 2022” will be held from February 10 to 20. The practical actions of the troops will take place at the Domanovsky, Gozhsky, Obuz-Lesnovsky, Brestsky and Osipovichsky training grounds, as well as certain areas of the terrain located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
In recent weeks, a number of Western media reported on the alleged plans of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So, on January 7, The New York Times compiled and published a map with the alleged location of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine.
Moscow has repeatedly rejected such data. On December 23, 2021, during a press conference, Vladimir Putin answered a question about alleged plans to invade Ukraine. According to him, because of such statements, one gets the impression that the Ukrainian side is preparing a new operation in the Donbass.
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