Russia and Belarus plan joint military drills in February - Lukashenko
MOSCOW, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Russia and Belarus will hold joint military drills in February, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday, amid soaring tensions between East and West over Ukraine.
Russia, a close ally of Belarus, has worried the West and Kyiv with a troop build-up near Ukraine's borders and a barrage of threatening rhetoric, stirring fears that it plans to invade. read more
Moscow denies any such plan, but has used the standoff to campaign for security guarantees from the West, including a halt to NATO expansion and a formal veto on Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, ever joining the military alliance.
"We were planning to start exercises in February. Set an exact date and let us know, so we aren't blamed for massing some troops here out of the blue, as if we are preparing to go to war," Lukashenko told his defence minister.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-belarus-plan-joint-military-drills-february-lukashenko-2022-01-17/
