[ad_1]
Top Russian military commanders arrived in Belarus on Wednesday. They will monitor 30,000 Russian troops during a 10-day military exercise with the Belarusian military, in what is seen as the latest show of force by Moscow, along the border with Ukraine. Russia has sent two surface-to-air missile systems, the S-400, and numerous fighter jets to Belarus for training. General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, will lead the exercise, which begins Thursday.
The exercise in Belarus is the latest threat to Ukraine, whose capital, Kiev, is located just 210 kilometers south of it. Moscow has also sent warships to the Black Sea and amassed more than 100,000 troops along Ukraine’s eastern flank.
The Ukrainian government also announced a 10-day military exercise, which also begins on Thursday, during which drones and anti-tank missiles supplied by Kiev’s western allies will be used. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was conducting joint exercises with Belarus to deal with what he called “unprecedented security threats.”
“Russia and Belarus have faced unprecedented threats, the nature and concentration of which, unfortunately, is much greater and much more dangerous than before,” Mr Peskov told reporters. Western intelligence experts say they believe Moscow has deployed 70% of its military capacity for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a country that in recent years has sided with the West and is seeking to join NATO, the alliance. western military formed after World War II.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied plans to invade Ukraine, but has demanded that the West block its membership in NATO and that Western allies withdraw their troops and weapons stationed near Russia. In response, the West has said that Russia has no veto power over a country’s NATO membership process, but has also expressed readiness to negotiate with Moscow on the issue of missile deployment in Eastern Europe and periodic NATO military exercises. s.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke Monday with Russian President Putin and Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but the meetings do not appear to have eased tensions or reduced the possibility of an invasion. “You should not underestimate the tension surrounding the situation we are living in, its unparalleled nature,” Macron said in Kiev. “I do not believe that this crisis can be resolved with a few hours of discussion,” he added.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that everything depends on whether the United States and NATO are ready to negotiate seriously on Russia’s demands. He called NATO’s response to Russia’s demands “rude and challenging.” Meanwhile, the Slovak parliament, a NATO member, on Wednesday approved a military defense treaty with the United States, similar to the pacts Washington has with other NATO allies.
The treaty, signed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week, enables the US military to use two Slovak Air Force bases for 10 years, while Slovakia will receive $ 100m from the United States to modernize them. Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said the treaty would “significantly increase the country’s security”, but his opponents say it would compromise the country’s sovereignty.
Secretary Blinken said the treaty would not establish a permanent military base or a permanent presence of US troops in Slovakia.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link