Russian troops will remain indefinitely, says Belarus, as fears rise of Ukraine invasion [View all]
Source: Guardian
Sun 20 Feb 2022 12.44 GMT
Defence minister says soldiers will stay after end of joint exercises due to ‘escalation of situation’ in Donbas
Russian troops sent to Belarus for military exercises will remain in the country indefinitely, Belarus’s defence ministry has said, in a decision that will further fuel concerns Moscow is planning an imminent Ukraine invasion.
Belarus’s defence minister, Gen Viktor Khrenin, said Russian soldiers would stay after large-scale joint drills were completed on Sunday. He said the move was necessary because of the “escalation of the situation” in the Donbas, in the east of Ukraine.
The Kremlin had promised to remove its forces from Belarus once the 10-day exercise, which began on 10 February, ended. It has deployed what the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said was the largest concentration of soldiers and modern weapons in Belarus since the cold war.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/20/russian-troops-will-remain-indefinitely-says-belarus-as-fears-rise-of-ukraine-invasion
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