Why Russia sends troops to Belarus

The russia plan It is not only about increasing the pressure in the eastern part of Ukraine with the stationing 100,000 soldiers. It also intends to create unease in the West with its presence in Belarus, where the Kremlin could install tactical missiles aimed at Europe if both the US as the NATO do not give in to Russian claims to curb the expansion of the Atlantic Alliance towards the countries of the former Soviet orbit. At the moment, Russian military forces and equipment arrived in Belarusian territory on Monday, as recognized by the Minsk government.

The argument for this military deployment is the performance of military maneuvers called “Allied Resolution”, which will be held near the western edge of Belarus, where the borders of NATO members are Poland and Lithuania, and its southern flank with Ukraine, said the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Russia’s troop movements are being closely scrutinized, as a military buildup near the borders of Ukraine and a barrage of threatening rhetoric have sparked Western fears that Russia plans to invade.

Moscow denies any such plan, but has used the standoff to campaign for Western security guarantees, including a halt to NATO expansion and a formal veto of Ukraine , a former Soviet republic, may ever join the military alliance.

The Belarusian leader, a pariah in the West since a radical crackdown in 2020 and last year’s migration crisis with the European Union, said the drills were necessary as Ukraine had amassed troops close to Belarus. He said that Poland and the Baltic states had more than 30,000 soldiers near the borders of Belarus.

Lukashenko he has led the former Soviet republic that Moscow sees as a buffer state for the West since 1994 and strengthened ties with Moscow during the mass protests that erupted in 2020 when the West imposed sanctions. “These should be normal exercises to come up with a determined plan to confront these forces: the West, the Baltics and Poland, and the South: Ukraine,” he said in comments carried by state media.

The Kremlin said separately that reports that Estonia was prepared to host up to 5,000 NATO soldiers showed that Moscow was right to be concerned. “It is exactly things like that that prove that we have reason to be worried and prove that we are not the reason for the escalation of tensions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

He was asked in a conference call for comment after a senior Russian official refused to rule out or confirm whether Russia could deploy missiles in Venezuela or Cuba if the West refused to honor security assurances from Moscow.

“For Latin America, we are talking about sovereign states there, let’s not forget that. And in the context of the current situation, Russia is thinking how to ensure its own security.… We are … reviewing different scenarios.” he said.

Separately, Russia’s Western Military District said its tank army was conducting command staff training exercises in five regions, involving 800 servicemen and more than 300 pieces of hardware, the Interfax news agency reported.